“We are actively shaping the conversation”
ITB China News caught up with Lydia Li, Director of ITB China, ahead of this year’s show
Ms Li gives an overview of the main trends ITB China is highlighting this year and how ITB China is reflecting the future of the industry.
What are some of the key trends currently shaping the Chinese travel market? How are these trends being showcased or addressed at ITB China 2025?
China’s travel market in 2025 is booming—driven by shifting consumer demands, breakthrough technologies, and forward-thinking government policies. This momentum is opening new horizons for global tourism stakeholders and redefining the way travel is experienced and delivered.
At ITB China 2025, we are not simply tracking these changes—we are actively shaping the conversation, fostering innovation, and building global bridges for collaboration. Here are three major trends we’re addressing:
“As Chinese outbound tourism steadily rebounds, the global travel industry is entering a new phase of opportunity and innovation.”
The first is outbound momentum and inbound revival. China’s outbound travel is surging, with international flight capacity approaching pre-pandemic levels and rising interest in niche destinations and immersive, experience-driven travel. Simultaneously, inbound tourism is gaining new momentum, fueled by expanded visa-free policies and a growing global appetite for authentic “China Travel” experiences.
As Chinese outbound tourism steadily rebounds, the global travel industry is entering a new phase of opportunity and innovation. Today’s Chinese travellers are drawn to personalised, immersive, high-quality experiences—from cultural journeys and wellness escapes to flexible, niche group tours. In response, international destinations are adapting with new group tour models and data-driven marketing. ITB China 2025 will highlight these trends through forums on product innovation, market segmentation, and cross-border collaboration.
The inbound trend—centred on China’s rich cultural heritage and emerging rural destinations—has been a highlight since last year and continues to thrive. As “China Travel” continues to gain traction globally, ITB China 2025 is expanding its focus through dedicated forums on inbound strategies, digital marketing, and cross-border cooperation. These platforms empower destinations and travel businesses to better connect with overseas travellers and capitalise on the renewed global interest in exploring China.
The second trend is the demand for themed, personalised, and experience-driven travel. As Chinese travellers increasingly seek more meaningful, customised journeys, themed travel is on the rise. Segments such as senior travel, rural exploration, luxury escapes, educational tours, and adventure travel are experiencing rapid growth.
Rural tourism is benefitting from digital transformation and infrastructure development, making it more accessible and attractive to both domestic and international visitors seeking off-the-beaten-path experiences.
To spotlight this trend, ITB China 2025 is launching a new “Themed & Customized Travel” forum. This initiative will focus on product innovation and experience design across key segments, enabling industry players to tailor offerings to increasingly diverse traveller profiles including seniority, sustainability, education, customised, cruise, luxury and adventure.
Lastly, smart tourism is taking centre stage as technology continues to redefine the tourism landscape. From trip planning to on-the-ground experiences, AI, AR/VR, and intelligent tourism platforms are transforming everything.
At the heart of this transformation is our Travel Innovation Hub—a revamped Travel Tech segment at ITB China 2025. This dynamic platform brings together industry leaders such as Trip.com Group, Huawei Petal Ads, Tencent Smart Tourism, and AWE Asia as key partners and explores how technology is making tourism smarter, more personalised, and more sustainable.
How is ITB China 2025 driving the development of China’s outbound travel market?
ITB China 2025 underscores the expanding scope of China’s outbound travel market. The exhibition has grown by over 30%, with more than 700 exhibitors from 85 countries. Europe’s presence increased by 35%, the Middle East and North Africa saw a 23% rise, and South America’s participation surged by 99%. Central Asia also made a remarkable entry with a 200% increase, including debut exhibitors from Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. Other destinations such as Algeria, Brunei, Cyprus, Diriyah, Hokkaido, Hong Kong, Oman, Sarajevo, and South Africa are also showcasing their unique offerings for the first time.
The MICE segment continues to gain importance—can you share its role and significance at this year’s show?
At ITB China 2025, the MICE segment is one of the key highlights, reflecting its growing strategic importance in China’s travel market. With nearly 400 exhibitors showcasing MICE-related products—a 30% increase from last year—and 70% of our buyers actively sourcing business travel solutions, demand is stronger than ever.
The all-day ITB China Conference will feature a series of expert-led sessions and collaborative forums, held in partnership with SITE China, the China Business Event Industry Committee (CBEIC), and the Digital Procurement Professional Committee under CECC (DPPC). The programme will focus on two key themes: Chinese MICE Going Global Strategy and Business Travel Global Collaboration and Strategic Management.
Where strategy meets insight: Inside the ITB China Conference
This year’s ITB China’s Conference will bring together 150 senior executives, procurement professionals, and industry experts from international tourism boards, airlines, hotel groups, leading travel companies, and travel agencies. The conference will cover six key themes, including China’s outbound and inbound travel, hospitality and hotels, MICE & business travel, themed & customized travel, and travel tech innovation. With a comprehensive agenda of over 60 in-depth topics, the event will offer valuable industry insights and highlight emerging trends through structured, high-level discussions, helping participants identify new opportunities in the evolving global tourism landscape.
Chinese outbound Travel remains one of the vital themes this year as international mobility continues to resume. The keynote by Tourism Economics, “Chinese Outbound Tourism: What Does the Future Hold?”, promises to offer data-driven insights into long-term travel trends, helping stakeholders navigate market recovery and identify future opportunities.
Tourism resilience and recovery will also play an important role, with the World Travel & Tourism Council presenting its latest economic report—offering benchmarks and strategies critical to China’s ongoing post-pandemic travel recovery.
Rural Tourism is a new strategic focus this year, supported by UN Tourism. Their keynote and the panel discussion on rural development highlight tourism’s role in empowering communities, preserving heritage, and advancing sustainable growth—directly aligned with China’s rural revitalisation goals.
引领对话、共创未来：ITB China重构旅游产业链新格局
展会启幕前夕，ITB China项目负责人李佳女士接受了ITB China News专访。
李佳女士全面解析了2025年ITB China所聚焦的行业关键趋势，并分享了展会如何反映行业未来发展方向。
当前有哪些关键趋势正在深刻塑造中国旅游市场？2025 ITB China又将如何回应和呈现这些趋势？
2025年，中国旅游市场蓬勃发展，在多重驱动力的推动下迅速崛起——包括消费需求的跃迁、技术突破与政策加持。这一澎湃动能正为全球旅游从业者打开全新视野，也正在重塑旅行的体验方式与服务路径。
2025 ITB China不仅记录趋势，更主动引领行业对话、推动创新涌现、搭建全球协作之桥。以下是我们关注的三大核心趋势：
随着中国出境旅游持续回暖，全球旅游业正步入一个充满机遇与创新的新阶段。
首先，是出境提速与入境回暖“双向驱动”。中国出境游正快速反弹，国际航班运力接近疫情前水平，游客对小众目的地与沉浸式体验类旅行热情高涨。与此同时，入境旅游在免签政策增加和“中国游”全球热度持续升温的背景下，也迎来全新增长动能。
随着中国出境游稳步复苏，全球旅游业正迈入一个充满创新与机遇的新纪元。当前中国游客日益偏好个性化、沉浸式、高质量的旅行体验——无论是文化之旅、康养度假，还是灵活多样的小众定制团。面对这一趋势，国际目的地正积极应对，通过新型团队产品模式和数据赋能的营销方式不断适配升级。2025 ITB China将通过“科技创新”“市场细分”“跨境协作”等论坛主题深入解读这一市场脉搏。
入境游趋势依托中国深厚的文化底蕴与日益崛起的乡村目的地，自去年起持续升温，成为全球关注焦点。“China Travel”概念在国际市场不断走红之际，ITB China 2025也将以更大力度推进入境板块，通过涵盖入境战略、数字营销与跨境合作的多场专题论坛，为目的地及旅游企业搭建连接海外游客的新桥梁，助力抢抓全球市场对中国旅游日益高涨的热情与需求。
第二大趋势，是以主题化、个性化和深度体验为核心的旅行需求持续走高。中国游客对“有意义、有深度、可定制”的旅行方式日益偏好，带动“主题旅游”蓬勃发展，银发人群出游、乡村探索、奢华度假、教育研学、冒险旅行等细分板块均呈现爆发式增长。
借助数字化转型与基础设施升级，乡村旅游的可达性和吸引力显著提升，正日益成为国内外游客探索“小众目的地”，体验“原味中国”的热门选择。
为顺应这一趋势，2025 ITB China将全新设立“主题与定制旅游”专题论坛，聚焦产品创新与体验设计，覆盖银发旅游、可持续旅行、教育研学、定制化服务、精品邮轮、奢华度假与探险体验等多个细分赛道，助力企业深挖多元客群、精准匹配需求。
最后一大趋势，是智慧旅游加速登场，科技正深刻重塑旅游业版图。从AI人工智能，到AR/VR沉浸技术，再到智慧文旅平台，旅游的每一个环节——从前端策划到实地体验都在全面革新。
引领这场科技变革的正是全新升级的“旅游科创荟”——2025 ITB China旅游科技板块的重磅焕新。该板块将携手携程集团、华为鲸鸿动能、腾讯智慧文旅、AWE Asia等头部企业，深入探讨科技如何让旅游变得更加智能、个性化、可持续。
2025 ITB China如何助推中国出境游市场迈入发展“快车道”？
2025 ITB China全面释放出境市场扩张信号。展会规模同比增长超30%，吸引来自全球85个国家的700+家参展商。欧洲展团参展面积扩大35%，中东及北非增长23%，南美洲展团增幅高达99%。中亚地区更实现200%强势跃升，阿塞拜疆、吉尔吉斯斯坦等新兴目的地首次登陆展会。此外，阿尔及利亚、文莱、塞浦路斯、德拉伊耶、北海道、香港、阿曼、萨拉热窝和南非等国家和地区也将在本届展会上迎来首次亮相，集中展现其独特魅力与市场潜力。
会奖（MICE）板块持续升温——在今年展会中有哪些重点表现与战略意义？
MICE会奖旅游板块成为2025 ITB China一大核心亮点，彰显其在中国旅游市场中愈发突出的战略地位。共有近400家参展商集中展示MICE产品，规模较去年增长30%；同时，70%的专业买家明确表达了对商务差旅解决方案的采购需求，释放出空前强劲的市场信号。
ITB China论坛将全天聚焦会奖旅游与商务旅行领域，由国际奖励旅游精英协会中国分会（SITE China）、中国商务会展产业委员会（CBEIC）及中国电子商会数字采购专委会（DPPC）联合主办，推出多个重量级对话与合作论坛。重点议题将围绕“中国MICE出海战略”与“全球商务差旅协作与战略管理”两大方向展开，助力中国企业深度参与全球MICE生态。
战略+洞察双驱动——深入解码ITB China高端论坛
2025 ITB China论坛将汇聚150位来自全球旅游局、航司、酒店集团、龙头旅游企业及渠道商的高层管理者、专业买家与行业先锋，共探发展机遇。本届论坛聚焦六大核心议题：中国出境游与入境游、酒店住宿、MICE会奖与商务差旅、主题定制旅游以及旅游科技创新，构建多维交流平台。论坛覆盖60+前沿话题，将通过高规格、结构化的深度对话，呈现产业洞察、剖析趋势风口，助力与会嘉宾在全球旅游变局中抢占发展先机。
随着国际通航与流动加快，中国出境游仍是本届大会的核心议题之一。Tourism Economics将带来《中国出境旅游：未来趋势洞察》主题演讲，基于大数据剖析中长期演变趋势，助力业者解读复苏节奏、掌握未来机会。
旅游业的“韧性与复苏”将成为论坛另一重要议题。世界旅游及旅行理事会（WTTC）将发布其最新旅游经济报告，提出一系列关键性数据指标与战略建议，为中国旅游市场的疫后持续复苏提供重要参考与行动指南。
本届大会将乡村旅游上升为战略新增板块，并获得联合国旅游组织（UN Tourism）重点支持。其主题演讲与圆桌环节将聚焦“文旅赋能乡村”，探讨旅游如何推动社区经济、守护文化根脉、实现绿色增长，与中国“乡村振兴”国家战略深度共振。
