How Turkish Hotels Can Capture the China Travel Surge
Visa-Free Policy Drove 500% Search Spike
Published
Jan 30, 2026
Topic
Marketing
On January 2nd, Turkey dropped visa requirements for Chinese passport holders.
Within 24 hours, searches for "Turkey Travel" on RedNote (aka Xiaohongshu) jumped 500%. And early indicators show a 400% spike in Turkey-bound flight searches within hours of the announcement.
That's not a typo. A 5x spike in one day.
If you're a hotelier in Turkey, and you're wondering what that means for your property, you're asking the right question.
Data Source: New Rank, a data company
The visa-free policy removes the biggest friction point for Chinese travelers, who can now stay 90 days without any paperwork.
Chinese outbound tourism is already performing strongly (Turkey welcomed 410,000 Chinese visitors in 2024—up 65% from the year before) and it's accelerating as more countries remove visa restrictions.
The Philippines and Brazil announced similar measures this month, joining a wave of destinations competing for Chinese travelers, who made 128 million international trips in 2024.
To understand the potential impact, look at Thailand. When they introduced permanent visa-free entry in March 2024, Chinese arrivals hit 6.73 million by year's end—a whopping 92% increase.
The pattern is consistent: remove visa barriers, and Chinese travel demand follows quickly.
Read the full article here.
Originally published on the official website of Brands Without Borders Ltd.