China's inbound tourism market is witnessing a shift from conventional sightseeing to innovation-themed travel centered on China's advanced manufacturing and technological achievements. As summer tourism demand surges, major travel platforms are launching customized tech study tour packages for international visitors, combining classic natural scenery and cultural excursions with immersive experiences of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, autonomous driving and brain-computer technologies.

Industry experts said that the emerging tech-driven travel trend is poised to become a new highlight and a calling card for China Travel's global appeal.

Fliggy, the online travel platform under Alibaba, has launched tech-themed inbound tour packages in China, the company told the Global Times on Monday.

Foreign travelers can shape their itineraries around visits to the country's leading tech hubs, gaining an in-depth understanding of AI development and its real-world applications in smart devices and intelligent agents. They can also tour top robotics firms and major electric vehicle manufacturers, where they will have the chance to interact with humanoid robots, explore brain-computer interface technology, and experience autonomous driving firsthand.

The products are now available for consultation and booking via AliExpress. Since their launch, inquiries from overseas visitors have doubled repeatedly, with the first customized group tour scheduled to depart from South Korea on July 13, according to Alibaba.

Data from Fliggy showed that summer inbound tourism bookings surged 237 percent year-on-year over the past two weeks, with Malaysia, South Korea, and Canada each recording more than threefold growth.

Spring Tour has rolled out a new panoramic drone sci-tech experience for the 2026 summer inbound season, designed specifically for international visitors with no experience required in operating drones, the company told the Global Times on Monday.

The program includes indoor drone flight simulation, real drone combat, a drone football game, and drone formation performances. During outdoor field training, visitors can operate industrial-grade plant protection drones in real-life scenarios. They can also take aerial photos of the Huangpu River and the Lujiazui skyline in Shanghai as travel souvenirs.

China Youth Travel Service (CYTS) has prioritized the development of tech-themed inbound study tour products covering AI, robotics and drone experiences, with pilot trials already launched on a small scale, the Global Times learned from the company on Monday.

"As technological study tours become a fast-growing segment of China's inbound tourism market, overseas clients have shown surging interest in visiting Chinese tech companies," Zhao Yuan, Deputy General Manager of CYTS International Travel, told the Global Times.

Customized CYTS routes featuring drone enterprises in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province and AI firms in Hangzhou have gained positive feedback from international student and corporate groups. Tech experiences, including drone delivery interactions, have also been integrated into regular travel itineraries, opening new room for product innovation amid rising market demand, Zhao said.

Looking ahead to summer 2026, CYTS has witnessed stable growth in overall inbound travel bookings. Both individual tourist demand and customized tour requests continue to pick up, Zhao added.

The integration of cutting-edge technology and tourism not only enhances visitors' experiences but also serves as a window to showcase China's innovation prowess, further boosting the global attractiveness of China Travel, Chinese experts said.

"China's breakthroughs in AI, robotics, and drones have made tech-themed travel a compelling new attraction. These interactive experiences satisfy curiosity about frontier technology and create lasting memories, while offering overseas visitors practical exposure to China's innovation ecosystem," Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

Tech-driven inbound tourism helps rebuild China's brand beyond culture and scenery, drawing tech-loving travelers and expanding source markets. It also fuels industrial upgrading by integrating tech, research, and tourism into a complete value chain, Wang added.

China recorded steady growth in cross-border entries and exits in the first quarter of 2026, with trips by foreign nationals surging amid measures aimed at facilitating inbound travel. Border authorities handled 185 million cross-border trips, up 13.5 percent year-on-year, according to the National Immigration Administration.

Foreign nationals made 21.33 million border crossings, up 22.3 percent year-on-year. Visa-free entries for foreign nationals reached 8.32 million, making up 77.9 percent of all inbound trips for these travelers, up 29.3 percent year-on-year.

Building on this momentum, authorities rolled out measures in March to further boost inbound tourist spending, including refining transit visa-free arrangements and enhancing departure tax refund services. Efforts are also being made to make payment more accessible and strengthen foreign-language services at key venues, according to the Xinhua News Agency