These days, Shanghai-based banker Jason Zhang can no longer stay at the Westin hotel in downtown Beijing’s financial district after his company cut its travel budget. Instead, he had to settle for a cheaper domestic hotel chain.

The panel featured Anna Marchesini, Head of Business Development at m1nd-set; Subbu Bhatt, CEO and Founder of China Trading Desk; Tabea Palmer, Vice President of Retail Marketing at Fraport Group; and Lilly Choi-Lee, Executive General Manager at TravConsult.

If you want to take the pulse of China’s consumers and e-commerce titans, look no further than the 618 shopping festival. Originally launched by JD.com as a birthday sale, 618 has grown into a barometer for the industry and a battlefield for China’s biggest retail platforms.

Thailand’s tourism outlook in such doldrums that even the so-called The White Lotus effect — a temporary boost in Western visitors inspired by the latest Koh Samui—set season of HBO’s hit show — hasn’t been enough to offset a slump in arrivals from neighboring countries.

As China’s outbound travel surges past pre-pandemic levels in 2025, a new generation of alcohol consumers is reshaping global duty-free. No longer defined by tradition or hierarchy, today’s Chinese drinkers are younger, more spontaneous, and digitally wired; eager to explore, share, and curate their experiences.

An unusual convergence of the Dragon Boat Festival and Children’s Day in China over the weekend led to a surge in domestic tourism bookings to campsites, amusement parks and other attractions, according to travel platforms.

A Hollywood film topped ticket presales for China’s Dragon Boat Festival, but latest data points to a subdued box office for the holiday season as the industry grapples with a string of underwhelming performances.

The rise of Pop Mart, and in particular its breakout character Labubu, signals a decisive pivot in consumer behaviour. What was once considered niche designer toy culture has evolved into a mass-market emotional movement. In China, and increasingly across global markets, consumers are no longer buying purely for function. They’re buying for meaning, identity, and emotional resonance.

Chinese tourists are now flooding through Singapore’s Changi Airport in ever-greater numbers. The Southeast Asian nation now offers a whole host of activities that fit the changing tastes of Chinese travellers, as well as having a number of cultural and language alignments that help visitors easily acclimatize.