Offline versus online travel experience sharing: the national profile of China

Purpose This study aims to examine the demographic differences of Chinese nationals’ travel experience sharing through different offline and online platforms. Design/methodology/approach Cross-tabulation analysis was applied on a national sample of 6081 respondents in China. Findings The study found that Chinese women tend to share travel experience more often than Chinese men; old people in China tend to use the face-to-face approach more than online or social media to share their travel experience. About 66.5 per cent of the survey sample used WeChat Moments to share their travel experience, highlighting WeChat as the dominating social media platform in China for travel sharing. In general, people who share via online platforms (WeChat, Weibo, QQ Space) tend to be young, single or unmarried, well-educated and earning a high monthly income. Originality/value The study offers an in-depth understanding of travel experience sharing idiosyncrasies in China.