China's smart tourism applications offer unique experiences to foreign travelers

Experiencing smart, convenient services

In the exhibition area of Meituan, one of China's leading online services platforms, high-end technologies such as drones and autonomous delivery vehicles became the focus of foreign bloggers' lenses.

Ruben Diaz Jr. from the United States was amazed by it. "Some of these things are brand new to me. Tourists can specify drones to deliver the items they need directly to the scenic areas, which is definitely more convenient."

A staff member at the Meituan booth said that currently Meituan drones are operating on more than 30 routes in cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and have completed over 300,000 orders in total.

Thanks to the rapid development of smart tourism in China, tourists have become accustomed to using online payments, ticket purchases and guided tours during their travels.

Data from iResearch, an industry research and consulting institute, showed that in 2023, the total number of monthly uses and total usage time of online travel apps had grown by more than 30 percent year on year on average.

Some Chinese online travel service companies also use digital technologies to meet the growing travel needs of foreign visitors in China.

In May, Tongcheng Travel launched an international travel reservation platform named HopeGoo, which supports payments in 16 global currencies and via various operating languages.

Richard Santana, a product designer and blogger from the United States, said that with these online services, foreigners will be more willing to go to China, while their travels in China will also be more convenient.

Ma Yiliang, chief statistician of the China Tourism Academy, said that "digitalization plus cultural tourism" has become a development trend.

As "China Travel" has surged to be a hot global social media topic, demand for inbound tourism to China has increased significantly.

"With the smarter and more convenient experience in China, foreign tourists can find a more open, more confident and safer China during their travels," said Ma.