China's tech and manufacturing innovation creates new tourism trend

A group of nearly 30 South Korean university students visited Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in July with an unusual itinerary: instead of the city's landmark West Lake or the archaeological ruins of Liangzhu, they toured technology companies and an electric vehicle factory.

The four-day trip was part of a new series of inbound study tours launched by online travel platform Fliggy, featuring artificial intelligence, humanoid robots, autonomous driving, and advanced manufacturing.

The tours point to an emerging niche in China's booming inbound travel market, as visitors increasingly prioritize tech innovation over conventional sightseeing.

"Foreign visitors' demands for travel in China are becoming increasingly diverse," Wang Liyang, an operations manager at Fliggy, said.

The trend has expanded beyond business executives, investors, and industry specialists to younger travelers and families. On Fliggy's platform, inbound student travelers and family groups each surged more than fivefold over the past year, with visitors showing the keenest interest in large language models, AI hardware, and humanoid robots.

Wang noted that these tech-focused travelers also show a higher propensity to spend on accommodation, dining, and shopping.

Major tech and manufacturing hubs — including Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen in Guangdong province — recorded an average year-on-year increase of more than sevenfold in Fliggy's measure of inbound travel interest over the same period.

The trend comes as the country seeks to attract more international visitors through expanded visa-free entry, improved payment services, and a wider range of tourism products.

Foreign nationals made 22.91 million entries into China in the first half of 2026, up 20.4 percent year-on-year. Visa-free entries rose 30.6 percent to 17.82 million, accounting for nearly 78 percent of the total, according to the National Immigration Administration⁠.

In July, the State Council, the country's Cabinet, approved a plan to build China into a nation strong in tourism during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), emphasizing its efforts to improve the modern tourism system, optimize the spatial layout for the sector, foster new growth drivers, and enrich the supply of tourism products and services.

The plan aims to draw 190 million inbound visits and increase related spending to more than $150 billion by 2030.