China has reported a upward thrust in a brand new magnificence of holiday makers. Those guests aren’t basically within the Nice Wall, the Bund in Shanghai, or the Forbidden Town. As a substitute, a rising collection of overseas marketers, buyers, engineers, and bosses are coming to China to look its humanoid robots, electrical automobiles, sensible factories, and the growth in synthetic intelligence. The rage is known as tech tourism.
Trade professionals consider that one thing exceptional — if tough to explain — is going on in China. A non-public business has sprung up round those specialised tech excursions, with companies arranging producer visits and laboratory excursions in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, and Hefei. In step with the Glopen company, the call for for such itineraries rose by way of greater than 50% in 2026, and the company reportedly arranges over 100 corporate visits a month.
Business, trade, and business tourism are merging. Individuals are enthusiastic about how firms in China way the design, manufacturing, and release of latest merchandise — and the velocity with which they do it. Robotics, electrical automobiles, batteries, drones, carried out synthetic intelligence, and electronics production — those are the principle spaces of pastime for such vacationers.
Shenzhen is the principle vacation spot for such guests. This town is house to many part producers, robotics and drone producers, electronics producers, and a big pool of subcontractors. The collection of overseas guests higher by way of 70% in Shenzhen remaining yr and greater than 30% within the first quarter of 2026. Over 5 million overseas vacationers arrived in Shenzhen from the start of the yr to the tip of August.
The call for for such excursions has higher such a lot that native excursion operators are starting to react to it. Bridging China, one of the vital business’s main avid gamers, has created a six-day AI and robotics excursion in Shenzhen. This system comprises conferences with native marketers, visits to robotics firms, and conferences within the robotics building middle. Any other spotlight is a strolling excursion of the huge Huaqiangbei electronics marketplace. This excursion is fairly lengthy and prices about 2,580 euros in keeping with individual. It does no longer come with resort lodging and air tickets.
After all, excursions for China’s era elite are a lot more pricey and are totally custom designed. For instance, one five-day trade excursion is arranged for buyers and top-level managers and prices about 12,909 euros in keeping with individual. On the identical time, there are excursions in Shanghai and different towns which might be somewhat quick however permit you to see China’s era business. They value about $70 and $130 to two,300 euros for a couple of hours of electrical automotive rides, robotic walks, digital truth video games, or drone flights. Some excursion operators even point out the typical value vary for his or her tech tourism choices in Shenzhen or Shanghai.
In the meantime, in China, no longer most effective non-public excursion operators but additionally state constructions are appearing pastime on this development. Particularly, seven ministries and companies, together with the Ministry of Tradition and Tourism and the Ministry of Trade and Knowledge Era, issued a directive in Might 2026 encouraging the improvement of business tourism. Government wish to draw in vacationers to the car, robotic, aerospace, logistics, and gear production industries. The directive additionally encourages incorporating synthetic intelligence, digital truth, and self sustaining using into vacationer stories. China lately has 142 national-level business tourism demonstration websites. As well as, business insiders calculate that China’s business tourism marketplace dimension will exceed 300 billion yuan (about 38 billion euros) by way of 2029.
One reason why for the recognition of tech tourism is the belief of China’s technological and business doable amongst overseas firms and buyers. Most likely partially as a result of many multinational firms are frightened about China’s speedy development in some spaces, many excursions take at the taste of an business trade. This is, guests are in search of indicators about doable competition, providers, and companions, and crucial factor for them is to get an concept of the functions of China’s era business.
You will need to be aware, on the other hand, that during some ways, this tourism development is ready interest. Many that witnessed the improvement of the non-public pc and the upward push of Silicon Valley really feel that they want to see the brand new wave of technological disruption in China. Then again, on the subject of synthetic intelligence, robots, electrical automobiles, and the related applied sciences that China demonstrates, those are ceaselessly impressive however somewhat superficial initiatives. In step with the Reuters document, most of the robots that China has demonstrated to overseas vacationers are in reality gradual and rarely in a position to unbiased motion.
China’s business doable certainly can’t be neglected. Even so, the rustic nonetheless has vital demanding situations in changing into a global chief in the entire above industries, and a few applied sciences stay a ways from use in mainstream production. Nonetheless, it kind of feels that tech tourism will proceed to broaden in China. This expansion is fueled by way of more and more multinational firms desirous about China’s era business and a rising interest amongst overseas marketers and buyers. Most likely in a couple of years, this may change into an on a regular basis revel in for some vacationers to observe a wise manufacturing unit or a robotic workshop.
