Down to the data: What's driving travel consumption

On June 11, ByteDance's Douyin Life Services and big data research center Meadin Academy unveiled the 2026 Douyin Cultural Tourism Consumption Trend Report, which shows that the experience economy has integrated quickly into China's cultural and tourism industry over the past year.

Data reveal that hospitality and tourism-related short videos on Douyin, China's TikTok, garnered more than 402.5 billion views, and user searches for relevant content exceeded 67.7 billion times.

Content consumption around experiential travel has become a core driver of the younger generation's travel decisions. Immersive experiences, emotional value, intangible cultural heritage, and concert travel have emerged as defining keywords of cultural tourism consumption.

Short videos and livestreams have continued to drive new growth momentum in the cultural and tourism sector. The report reveals that over the past year, consumer spending via scenic spot livestreams increased by 75 percent year-on-year, and 32 percent of users booked hotel services through livestreams.

The past year has witnessed the rapid integration of culture and sports, with intangible cultural heritage-related tourism remaining popular.

Grassroots sports events on Douyin garnered 77.8 billion views, as various grassroots football leagues across China have boosted the sports events economy. According to concert group-buying orders on Douyin, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu of Sichuan province, Nanjing of Jiangsu province, and Hefei of Anhui province emerge as the top five "concert cities", continuing to fuel the ticket-based economy.

The top five most popular categories for intangible cultural heritage consumption are cuisine, performances, costumes and makeup, lantern art, and folk customs.

Both first-tier cities and small counties and towns hold unique appeal. Data show that hospitality and tourism orders in third-tier and lower-tier cities increased by 50 percent year-on-year, with Kaifeng, Henan province, being a prime example.

Over 60 percent of users who bought hospitality and tourism products on Douyin made repeat purchases within 30 or 90 days. Young consumers and family travelers have become the core driving forces of cultural and tourism consumption.

The report highlighted that artificial intelligence is emerging as a new infrastructure for the cultural tourism industry, reshaping traveler experiences and upgrading businesses' operational logic.

For users, AI technologies can provide customized travel itineraries through multi-round conversations and offer augmented-reality guided tours. For businesses, AI acts as a capable assistant in content creation, marketing operations, customer service, and operational decision-making.