Q2 2025 Weibo Rankings Report

Dragon Trail International’s Weibo Rankings Report tracks and analyzes performance for national tourism organizations (NTOs), destination marketing organizations (DMOs), airlines, airports, cruise lines, museums & attractions, and hotels. Our quarterly Weibo reports build industry benchmarks and uncover best practices in digital marketing in the travel sector.

In Q2 2025, celebrity-driven campaigns and emotionally resonant content continued to drive high engagement on Weibo, especially for NTOs and DMOs. Southeast Asian destinations like Thailand and emerging markets like Turkey saw strong performance, while Weibo users’ engagement with previous leaders like Australia declined following the end of major campaigns. Hotels experienced a surge in engagement, led by Holiday Inn’s comeback. In contrast, cruise lines continued to under-perform, with video-heavy, promotional content struggling to resonate on the platform.

NTOs

Thailand’s four Weibo accounts – the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and its Chengdu, Shanghai, and Beijing offices – all ranked within the top 20 of the national tourism organization (NTO) category in Q2 2025, securing 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 14th places, respectively. Collectively, these accounts generated 59.95% of the category’s total engagements. TAT’s Kunming office, however, remained the least engaged account among the group.

The two most-liked posts of the quarter also came from TAT. One promoted Grab, a must-have ride-hailing app for traveling in Thailand, and the other announced the launch of the “Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2025,” offering up to 80% off and featuring a fan event with Thai celebrity NuNew.

The Turkish Tourism Board showed the most dramatic growth, climbing from 19th place in Q1 to 3rd place in Q2. This resulted from a 1,786.51% surge in engagement, from just 845 in Q1 to 15,941 in Q2. The majority of this engagement stemmed from a single repost of Chinese actress Zhang Yifan’s humorous Weibo post about her travel experience in Turkey. That post alone received over 13,000 reposts, 115 comments, and 1,120 likes.

In contrast, Tourism Australia, Spain, and Japan – which ranked among the top three in Q1 – all saw notable declines in Q2, dropping to 5th, 11th, and 9th place, respectively. Tourism Australia experienced the steepest decline, with engagement decreasing more than seven-fold, despite an increase in posting frequency. One likely explanation is the conclusion of its high-performing promotional campaign featuring Chinese actor Yu Shi. Without this campaign, Tourism Australia’s content reverted to its regular programming of scenic photos, food recommendations, and travel guides – formats that, while informative, did not sustain the same level of audience interest. Yu Shi played a key role in driving visibility and demand, helping the brand stand out in a competitive global tourism market during Q1.

DMOs

Overall engagements in the DMO category declined from 195,886 in Q1 to 138,857 in Q2 2025, representing a 29.11% decrease. The average engagement per account per post also dropped, from 2.53 in Q1 to 1.50 in Q2.

Queensland Australia experienced a significant drop, falling from 1st place in Q1 to 16th in Q2 2025, despite increasing its posting frequency. Its engagement rate decreased by 97.26%, from 54,608 to 1,494. Macau and Hong Kong, both of which ranked in the top three in previous quarters, fell to 6th and 5th place, respectively.

The Marianas Visitors Authority rose to 2nd place for the first time, despite publishing only three posts in Q2. The account resumed activity on April 1st, 2025, after being inactive since May 14th, 2021. Two of its posts, featuring Chinese actor Zheng Yecheng, significantly boosted engagement and follower growth, with follower numbers rising from 25,761 in 2020 to 29,582 in Q2 2025.

Abu Dhabi topped the ranking with an average engagement per post of 885.31, rising from 19th place in the previous quarter—a nearly 67-fold increase.

The most-liked post of the quarter came from the Cannes Tourist Office. The Weibo post featured a star-studded roundup of celebrity appearances at the Cannes Film Festival, highlighting red carpet moments, film premieres, and standout fashion. Featured celebrities included both international and Chinese stars such as Jennifer Lawrence, Rihanna, and Yu Shi.

Another highly engaging post came from the Marianas Visitors Authority, announcing the appointment of Zheng Yecheng as Honorary Saipan and Marianas Wellness Ambassador. As of July 20th, this post had received more than 31,309 engagements. Abu Dhabi’s post featuring Liu Yifei—showcasing her summer travel experience in Abu Dhabi—was the second most-liked post in the DMO category.

Top three most-liked posts featuring celebrities attending the Cannes Film Festival, Abu Dhabi’s Brand Ambassador Liu Yifei, and Marianas’ Wellness Ambassador Zheng Yecheng

Airlines

AirAsia continues to lead the airlines category, generating 119,977 total engagements—accounting for 83.42% of the category’s total. Although AirAsia’s engagements increased by 13.85% compared to the previous quarter, its average engagement per post declined from 1,527 in Q1 to 1,131 in Q2. All Nippon Airways, which ranked second last quarter, fell to third place in Q2, experiencing a 66.42% decrease in total engagements and a 43.53% drop in post frequency. This simultaneous decline suggests a correlation, likely indicating that reduced posting led to fewer total interactions.

Eight of the top 10 most-liked Weibo posts in the airlines category were from AirAsia, featuring celebrity-related content involving its “Brand Friends” and “Brand Music Friends,” along with recommended itineraries and event recaps. Notably, in 2025, AirAsia launched an innovative marketing campaign titled “AirAsia’s Music Flight”, combining air travel with live campus music performances. Under the slogan “Fly Further, Play Harder,” the campaign featured “Brand Music Friends” such as Zhang Yanzhi, Zhu Xingjie, and The Landlord’s Cat, who performed at universities in cities including Chengdu, Changsha, and Hangzhou.

AirAsia’s marketing campaign featuring live campus music performances

The campaign experience included campus concerts, fan interactions, branded elements such as custom boarding passes and curated in-flight playlists, as well as artist meet-and-greets. Its success lay in AirAsia’s ability to authentically engage Gen Z travelers by merging travel with pop culture and offline entertainment—offering a more direct and impactful way to reach a targeted youth audience.

Airports

Airport accounts received significantly fewer engagements compared to other categories in Q2 2025. Hong Kong International Airport led the category with 3,804 total engagements, accounting for 75.49% of the category’s overall performance. It was followed by Istanbul Airport, Zurich Airport, and Osaka’s Kansai International Airport.

Half of the top ten airport accounts were based in East and Southeast Asia—Hong Kong International Airport, Kansai International Airport (Osaka), Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Malaysia Airports, and Singapore Changi Airport. Three were in Europe—Zurich Airport, Paris Airport, and Heathrow Airport, with Istanbul Airport just on the border between Europe and the Middle East, and Vancouver International Airport representing North America.

Eight of the ten most-liked posts in the airport category came from Hong Kong International Airport. The account featured a diverse range of content, including fan giveaways (one of the most engaging formats), airport event promotions (such as Children’s Day activities and exhibitions), shopping and gift guides, and seasonal food highlights.

Cruise Lines

Cruise accounts continued to generate very low engagement in Q2 2025, similar to Q1, with the most-liked post receiving only 43 likes. The active accounts remain unchanged from the previous quarter, with Princess Cruises leading in both activity and engagement. Its top two most-liked posts were both fan giveaways, offering up to $600 in onboard credit and up to $500 in instant savings. Other posts mainly consisted of videos highlighting cruise facilities, onboard activities, room tours, and promotional content featuring celebrities and influencers. While fan giveaways and celebrity-related content often perform well in categories such as NTOs or DMOs, cruise accounts on Weibo still underperform significantly in comparison.

Though video can be an effective format, Weibo is not a purely video-based platform—content of this nature tends to perform much better on video-centric platforms like Xiaohongshu, where storytelling and user experience are emphasized. Cruise posts may also come across as overly promotional, lacking emotional or aspirational appeal. Additionally, the giveaways offered by cruise accounts may not resonate strongly with users. General offers like onboard credit or instant savings require booking a cruise in order to redeem, which drastically narrows the pool of participants. If the giveaway featured tangible, aspirational items—such as branded luggage or exclusive merchandise—it could potentially generate higher engagement. Without these elements, cruise content struggles to compete for attention in a highly saturated feed.

Attractions & Museums

The average engagements per active account per post remained relatively stable in Q2 2025 compared to the previous quarter, with a slight decline from 1.64 to 1.03. This figure indicates that, on average, each post published by an active account received only 1.03 interactions in Q2, reflecting a very low level of engagement compared to other categories.

For museums, the Louvre produced some of the most-liked content on Weibo during the quarter. These posts consistently featured artworks exhibited at the museum and aimed to educate or engage audiences through compelling storytelling. This content format—combining visual appeal with cultural or historical narratives, often drawing on mythology and symbolism—is the most common among museum accounts on Weibo.

For attractions, Ocean Park Hong Kong saw strong engagement with posts featuring its giant pandas. Additional popular content types included anniversary and holiday celebrations, event announcements, and previews of upcoming experiences at the park.

Hotels

Hotel-related engagements increased significantly from 15,050 in Q1 2025 to 110,939 in Q2 2025. The average engagement per active account per post also rose markedly, from 0.97 to 5.69—an increase of 486.6%. Notably, Holiday Inn resumed its Weibo activity on June 7, 2025, and quickly climbed to the top of the rankings with 41,352 total engagements across just seven posts. Marina Bay Sands ranked second, with only 10 fewer total engagements. However, Holiday Inn demonstrated stronger performance overall, with an average of 5,907.43 engagements per post, compared to Marina Bay Sands’ 898.74.

Holiday Inn’s posts featuring its Brand Ambassador Cecilia Yip

Marina Bay Sands’ most-liked post featured a surprise fan event with Liu Shishi and Zhang Yunlong during the overseas premiere of the drama series Love in Pavilion, which included exclusive fan interactions and ticket giveaways. Meanwhile, Holiday Inn’s popular posts focused on brand ambassador Cecilia Yip, sharing heartfelt messages that celebrated both the childlike spirit in adults and the joys of growing up. These posts reinforced the brand’s image as a warm and comforting presence throughout different stages of life.