Fliggy and Reaching Chinese Travellers Where They Actually Book

If you are in travel, tourism, or hospitality and you want Chinese visitors, there is a platform you probably have never heard of that matters more than your own website ever will: Fliggy. It is the big travel platform in the Alibaba world, the place where huge numbers of Chinese travellers research, book, and decide where to go and where to stay. For a foreign hotel, destination, attraction, or travel service, being present and credible on the platforms Chinese travellers actually use is the difference between being discovered and being invisible. Chinese outbound tourism is a massive opportunity, but Chinese travellers plan and book in their own ecosystem, not on the Western travel sites you know. Here is what Fliggy is, why it matters, and how a foreign travel brand should think about reaching Chinese travellers where they really are. Fliggy’s reach is part of why it matters. It taps into Alibaba’s 600 million-plus mobile monthly users, and in 2025 its flight bookings among college students rose 63% year on year, with international trips up 110%, a sign of where the next wave of outbound travellers is coming from.

What Fliggy is and why it matters

Fliggy is a major Chinese travel platform within the Alibaba ecosystem, where travellers book flights, hotels, tours, and travel products, and where travel brands set up a presence to reach them. For Chinese travellers, platforms like this are a natural part of how they research and book, tied into the payment and account systems they already use every day. A foreign hotel or destination that is present and well-presented there can be discovered and booked by travellers who would never find it through Western channels. The point is simple but easy to miss: Chinese travellers do not plan trips the way Western tourists do, and they do not use the same tools, so meeting them on their own platforms is essential, not optional.

For a foreign travel brand, this reframes the whole challenge. Your beautiful English website and your presence on global booking sites are largely irrelevant to a Chinese traveller. What matters is whether you show up, look credible, and can be booked in the ecosystem they actually use to plan their trips.

How Chinese travellers plan and book

The Chinese travel journey runs through Chinese platforms at every step, and understanding the flow shows where a brand needs to be.

• Inspiration. Travellers discover destinations through content and others’ trips shared on social platforms.
• Research. They read reviews, guides, and real experiences to judge whether a place is worth it.
• Verification. They check that a hotel, attraction, or service is genuine and good before committing.
• Booking. They book through the travel platforms and payment systems built into their daily digital life.

Where does discovery actually happen?

Before the booking platform, inspiration and research happen through content, and this is where many foreign travel brands miss the start of the journey. Chinese travellers get inspired and decide where to go through real trips, reviews, and visual content shared by others, especially on Xiaohongshu, which is full of travel inspiration, destination guides, and honest accounts of real visits. A hotel or destination that appears in this content, shown in beautiful, genuine posts by real travellers, becomes a place people add to their list. The booking platform captures the decision, but the content layer creates the desire. A travel brand that ignores where inspiration happens is trying to win the booking without ever having created the want.

How does a foreign travel brand build trust with Chinese travellers?

Through reviews, social proof, and being verifiable when travellers check. Travel is a considered, sometimes expensive decision, and travellers want reassurance that a place is genuine and worth it before booking, especially somewhere far away they have never been. Honest reviews and real experiences shared by other Chinese travellers do the persuading, and when someone searches your hotel or destination to confirm it is real and good, your presence on Baidu shapes whether you look trustworthy. The traveller who sees you on a booking platform, reads about you in others’ trips, and confirms you when they search is the one who books with confidence. Trust built across these touchpoints is what turns interest into a reservation.

Can a small hotel or destination compete?

Yes, and often better than you expect, because Chinese travellers love discovering distinctive places, not just big chains. A small boutique hotel, a unique attraction, or a special destination with a genuine character can win Chinese travellers who want something authentic and shareable rather than generic. The key is the same as for any brand: be present where they research and book, create genuine inspiring content, gather real reviews, and be credible when they verify you. You do not need a giant budget, you need to be findable and convincing in the Chinese travel ecosystem rather than invisible outside it. A focused, distinctive travel brand that meets Chinese travellers where they actually plan can build a real flow of visitors without competing on the scale of the giants.

Where we come in

We are a team of 15 in Shanghai who help foreign travel, hotel, and destination brands reach Chinese travellers where they really plan: presence on the platforms they book through, inspiring content where they get the urge to travel, and a credible presence on Baidu when they verify you. If you want Chinese visitors, tell us about your hotel or destination.

Jon Wang is a straight-talking business man who lives and breathes Chinese ecommerce and distribution, and favours practical solutions over theory.