Regional cuisines drive summer travel boom

Consumption across dining, entertainment, service-oriented retail and regional cultural tourism saw broad-based growth on ByteDance's Douyin Life Services during the summer break, according to a new industry report.

Douyin Life Services on Wednesday released its 2026 Summer Vacation Consumption Data Report, revealing that from June 20 to Aug 20, regional cuisines spearheaded food-driven travel. Group-buy sales of local specialties such as Fuzhou fish balls, Peking duck and Dongpo pork posted multiple-fold increases.

During the same period, group-buy sales for hotpot, tea and fruit-juice beverages all rose by over 50 percent year-on-year. Regional cultural tourism saw a surge in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu in Sichuan province and other cities, and the summer-escape economy also drove rapid growth in spending on indoor immersive experiences.

This summer, traveling to a city for a single signature dish became popular and local delicacies had remarkable group-buy sales growth on the platform.

Data showed that group-buy sales of tea and fruit-juice drinks on the platform rose 56 percent year-on-year throughout the summer break. When it comes to flavor preferences, iced fresh lemonade, mango pomelo sago, grape, lychee and peach-flavored offerings emerged as the most popular tea-drink flavors.

The nighttime economy lit up summer-vacation business for dine-in restaurants. After 9 pm during the summer break, group-buy sales across multiple food categories on the platform saw notable year-on-year increases. Sales of pot-stewed food jumped 244 percent, hotpot group-buy sales rose 72 percent, and group-buy sales for buffets and barbecues climbed over 50 percent year-on-year.

Amid sweltering heat, the summer-escape economy drove remarkable growth in indoor consumption. Data showed group-buy sales for pindou, or Perler beads in the West, during the summer break soared 2,120 percent year-on-year. Group-buy sales at shopping malls rose 131 percent year-on-year, while manicure, foot massage and spa bath group-buy sales posted respective year-on-year gains of 84 percent, 65 percent and 47 percent.

Universal Beijing Resort, Shanghai Disney Resort, Kaifeng Wansui Mountain Martial Arts City theme park, Henan Baoquan Tourist Area and Qingdao Polar Ocean Park were the top five most popular attractions among Douyin users during the summer break.