More Southeast Asian flock to China’s Chongqing because of social media

A brand new trend is driving Southeast Asian tourists to China’s Chongqing city — viral social media clips of monorails running through a residential constructing, buildings perched atop hilly terrain, and a pedestrian bridge on the thirteenth floor.

Flight bookings from Southeast Asia to Chongqing increased greater than sixfold throughout the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, which fell on May 31 this 12 months, compared with the previous 12 months, Chinese online travel platform Fliggy told CNBC.

“In 2025 alone, we have captured an almost 12-fold surge in demand for Chongqing, in comparison with demand for other cities,” said Sarah Wan, Klook’s general manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in an email. Demand doubled for other popular cities equivalent to Beijing and Shanghai, and tripled for Chengdu, she added.

Chongqing has captured online attention for its duality — it’s home to natural attractions equivalent to the Three Gorges and the Dazu Rock Carvings, and futuristic architecture that inspired its nickname, “cyberpunk city.”

That is partly because young adults are turning to social media for recommendations when planning their holidays, with 79% of millennial and Gen Z travelers doing so, in keeping with Klook Travel Pulse research published in February.

That was the case for Ong Chong Yu, a 24-year-old undergraduate on the National University of Singapore, and his friends, who desired to visit town after it “blew up” on Douyin and TikTok for its “8D magic,” refering to the way in which buildings sit on the hilly parts of Chongqing that adds dimension to town’s landscape.

The Chinese language and Chinese studies major, who’s on a student exchange program in Beijing, visited Chongqing on a weekend trip in March. He said he found town’s unique landscape most memorable.

“[It] takes a climb up and down the mountain to get from one road to a different, the primary floor of 1 constructing may be the fifteenth floor of one other,” Ong said.

Except for social media hype, an improvement in amenities and a wide range of activities have contributed to town’s growing popularity.

The wide selection of activities available for tourists implies that “there’s something in Chongqing for everybody,” said Edmund Ong, senior regional director of Southeast Asia at Trip.com, in an email to CNBC.

“Older folks have long enjoyed Chongqing for its beautiful scenery, including the Yangtze River and Three Gorges, while younger travelers have seen many places there go viral on social media,” he added.

But it surely takes greater than good views to make a great holiday.

Although Chongqing has grow to be more crowded since undergraduate Ong’s last visit in 2018, “town’s crowd control is great,” he said, “so moving around was quite orderly, which I’m impressed by.”

The municipality has been specializing in making travel more convenient for tourists, said Gao Ling, director-general of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development, in a interview translated from Mandarin by CNBC.

The municipality has invested more into the transport systems for those traveling out and in of town. With more options to and from other major cities equivalent to Beijing and Chengdu via air and train, town goals to make entry into Chongqing easy for tourists, Gao said in an interview with CNBC conducted in Mandarin.

Earlier this 12 months, Chongqing also established one-stop service centers in major transit hubs equivalent to its Jiangbei International Airport and Chongqing North railway station, Gao said. The centers provide luggage storage and knowledge desks for travelers.

Young Southeast Asians could also be enticed to go to, partly due to the region’s proximity to China, Gao said.

Amongst countries in Southeast Asia, Trip.com has seen probably the most bookings to Chongqing from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, which all enjoy visa-free travel to China. Similarly, Klook has noted that tourists from Singapore and Malaysia lead sales for tours within the region, with tourists from Thailand and Indonesia fueling demand.

The variety of hotel bookings to Chongqing from Thai travelers has also risen greater than fivefold, in keeping with data provided by Fliggy.

In accordance with the Klook Travel Pulse research study, mainland China is the highest “must-go destination” for millennial and Gen Z travelers — second only to Japan. The country’s youth appeal might be attributed partly to cultural experiences equivalent to themed photoshoots and live performances incorporating song and dance, said Elvis Yap, travel experience and design planner for China at Singapore-based tour agency Dynasty Travel.

Themed photoshoots, during which travelers dress up in traditional outfits, have also blown up on social media, fueling demand, Yap said. Foreign and native tourists alike post photos of themselves on social media, dressed up in the standard Han clothing, complete with a wig and heavy makeup, all of that are included within the service that tourists purchase.

One other popular example is “gong yan,” a multi-course banquet meal and show, during which customers can dress up in traditional outfits. It’s “so much more dynamic,” with “high level cultural arts” performances combined with the dining experience at a reasonable price, Yap said, citing the strength of the Singapore dollar against the yuan.

But social media is not the only factor — hospitality in China has also improved, with more attractive services offered in hotels and attractions, he added.

“The opposite countries in Asia have to observe out for the extent of competition that China hospitality institutions are providing,” Yap said.