Q2 2025 Xiaohongshu Rankings Report

Dragon Trail International’s Xiaohongshu Rankings Report tracks and analyzes performance for national tourism organizations (NTOs), destination marketing organizations (DMOs), airlines, cruise lines, museums & attractions, and hotels. The quarterly Xiaohongshu report builds industry benchmarks and uncovers best practices in digital marketing in the travel sector.

NTOs

Australia dropped from first place to fifth in Q2 2025, a position it had consistently held since Q1 2024, marking a significant -79.62% decrease in engagements (from 37,766 to 7,695). The Swiss National Tourist Office replaced Australia as the leader in engagements for Q2 2025. Despite this increase in rankings, the Swiss National Tourist Office’s engagements per post fell from 366.50 in Q1 2025 to 288.52 in Q2 2025.

Tourism Ireland, on the other hand, rose to the top 5 for the first time since Q1 2024, achieving a total of 8,206 engagements, with an average of 341.92 engagements per post. One of the key drivers of this success was Tourism Ireland’s video post featuring How to Train Your Dragon, which showcased real-life locations such as the Giant’s Causeway and Tollymore Forest Park in Northern Ireland. This video accounted for a substantial 80.15% of the account’s total engagements, totaling over 6,282 engagements, and played a significant role in Tourism Ireland’s rise in rankings in Q2 2025.

Additionally, the Swiss National Tourist Office, in collaboration with China’s Yuewen Group, launched The King’s Avatar Swiss Expedition campaign. The King’s Avatar (全职高手), a popular Chinese mobile game based on the web novel by Butterfly Blue (蝴蝶蓝), features the protagonist Ye Xiu as the “Swiss Travel Ambassador.” Ye Xiu will guide fans on a month-long journey through Switzerland, from July to August, exploring iconic Swiss locations such as Zurich, Mount Titlis, Lucerne, Jungfrau, and Valais. This type of collaboration between NTOs and Chinese mobile games, often featuring popular game characters, is not unprecedented. Similar partnerships, such as Visit Britain’s collaboration with the Chinese otome visual novel game Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice in Q3 2024, have previously combined virtual experiences with real-world travel promotions to reach broader audiences.

Campaigns featuring popular IPs

DMOs

Discover Hong Kong and the Macao Government Tourism Office continued to dominate the DMO category in Q2 2025, generating a combined total of 62,250 engagements (36,015 and 26,235 respectively), which accounted for 52.28% of the category’s overall engagements. Despite a similar posting frequency, Visit California recorded a remarkable 1,188.22% increase in engagements, rising from 1,112 in Q1 to 14,325 in Q2. Its follower base also grew significantly, increasing by 146.37% from 22,776 at the end of Q1 2025 to 56,114 in Q2 2025.

The most popular post in the DMO category during Q2 2025 came from Discover Hong Kong, featuring a promotional giveaway and discount campaign celebrating the July 1st handover anniversary. The campaign highlighted citywide discounts and free activities across transportation, culture, dining, and shopping, alongside special events such as the “Hong Kong Reunification Raceday.” It also included a giveaway where participants could win Ocean Park tickets. Visit California’s top-performing post was a 40-second video showcasing Yosemite National Park and featuring popular travel influencer Ximeng (@西蒙-), which generated more than 8,500 engagements by the end of Q2. Another notable initiative was Macao’s collaboration with Pop Mart on the “Pop Mart Macao Citywalk” campaign, running from June 6 to September 21, 2025. The campaign introduced large-scale Pop Mart installations across Macau’s streets and public spaces, serving as unique attractions for fans of the brand.

Airlines

Similar to the previous quarter, AirAsia dominated the airlines category in Q2 2025, generating 42,047 total engagements and accounting for 45.54% of the category’s overall engagement—a slight increase from Q1. It was followed by Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines. Asiana Airlines, which ranked second in Q1 2025, fell to fourth place in Q2, recording a 64.51% decline in total engagements and a 53.24% drop in average engagement per post.

As the top-performing account, AirAsia continued its music-focused campaign featuring “Brand Friends” performing at various stops across China, including Changsha and Hangzhou. Cathay Pacific’s most engaging post was a video tribute to the 100th anniversary of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport. The video highlighted the airport’s legendary history—renowned for its dramatic landings over Kowloon City—and evoked nostalgic memories of passengers’ first flights. It underscored Cathay’s commitment to honoring Kai Tak’s legacy while carrying that aviation spirit into the future.

Airports

The average engagement per post per account for airlines remained relatively stable in Q2 compared to Q1 2025. Singapore Changi Airport continued to lead by a significant margin, far ahead of the second-ranked Chubu Centrair International Airport.

Chubu Centrair’s most popular post was a travel promotion video about Kiyosu Castle, a historic site near Nagoya. The video positioned the castle as a “hidden gem” alternative to the more well-known Nagoya Castle and Inuyama Castle, which are already popular among Chinese travelers. In contrast, the most engaging post in the airline category came from Singapore Changi Airport, announcing the groundbreaking of its massive new Terminal 5. The post emphasized the terminal’s futuristic design, enhanced transport connectivity, smart systems, and projected completion in the mid-2030s.

Cruise Lines

The average engagement per active account per post in Q2 2025 was 18.56, representing a 22.69% decline compared to the previous quarter. Since Q1 2024, this metric has followed a consistent downward trend, with only a brief upward shift between Q3 and Q4 2024 before resuming its decline through Q2 2025.

Royal Caribbean International dominated the category, contributing 64.15% of total engagements. Nine of the ten most popular posts came from the brand, led by a membership lucky draw featuring a DJI Osmo Action 4 camera as the prize. Other top-performing posts primarily highlighted cruise amenities, guided overviews of different itineraries, room tours, and dining options.

Attractions & Museums 

The Attractions category recorded a notable surge in average engagements per active account per post, reaching 22.35 in Q1 2025. However, this figure fell to 13.41 in Q2 2025, marking a 40% decrease.

Hong Kong Disneyland continued to dominate the category with 51,279 engagements, accounting for 71.13% of the total. Disneyland Paris followed with 5,366 engagements. All ten of the most popular posts originated from Disneyland, with one from Disneyland Paris and the remainder from Hong Kong Disneyland.

Hong Kong Disneyland’s top post was a promotional video for its 20th-anniversary celebration, “The Most Magical Party of All,” which began on June 28, 2025. The event features new themed food and merchandise, a parade, character greetings in anniversary outfits, and other offerings. In addition to anniversary promotions, the account posted two original songs for Duffy and Friends: “Adventure Awaits” and “Better Together.” Disneyland Paris’s most popular post celebrated Stitch Day on June 26, 2025—a date referencing the character’s experiment number, 626.

Hong Kong Disneyland’s promotional posts for its 20th anniversary 

Meanwhile, museum accounts typically post about upcoming exhibitions and provide introductions to artworks or artists.

Hotels

Marina Bay Sands returned to the top of the rankings with a leading 18,337 engagements and an average of 390.15 engagements per post, a significant increase from 94.51 in Q1 2025. Anantara, which had previously achieved high engagement driven by The White Lotus, fell to fifth place from first. This resulted in an 86.72% decrease in its average engagement per post, from 427.89 in Q1 2025 to 56.82 in Q2 2025.

Despite a 6.98% increase in posting frequency, the overall engagement per active account averaged 1.1 in Q2 2025, which was lower than the previous quarter.

The top three posts from Marina Bay Sands documented a coordinated marketing campaign for the costume drama “Love in Pavilion,” which involved special overseas screenings and celebrity appearances. The strategy provided fans with exclusive behind-the-scenes content and ran high-value giveaways—such as premiere tickets, limited-edition dolls, and a signed photo of Liu Shishi—to drive online engagement and event attendance. Beyond leveraging star power and offering incentives, all three posts employed interactive, action-oriented calls-to-action by directly asking fans about their favorite scene from the drama, thereby prompting comments and fostering a sense of community.

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore’s marketing campaign for “Love in Pavilion”

Car Rentals

Zuzuche fell to 5th place from 1st in Q2 2025, resulting in a notable -94.64% change in total engagements. The average engagements per active account per post for the category decreased from 8.18 in Q1 2025 to 2.41 in Q2 2025, marking a -70.54% decrease.

Zuzuche’s “The Truth Behind Internet Attractions” video series was very popular in Q1 2025, generating high engagement. In Q2, however, this series did not produce as much engagement as it had in the previous quarter. The account began posting other themed video series, primarily ranking must-visit or most popular places in various countries, such as “The Must-Visit 8 Places in Australia” or “10 Things You Must Do Before Leaving New York.” These videos generated poor engagement, thus causing its fall in the rankings. Interestingly, Yesaway’s most popular post, which was also the most popular post for the entire category, was a “The Truth Behind Internet Attractions” video about Japan, listing popular attractions such as Shibuya Sky, Mario Land, and Nara Park. This one post alone almost accounted for the account’s overall engagements.