On May 18th, coinciding with the 50th International Museum Day, Tongcheng Travel and Zhihu jointly released the "2026 Museum Travel Consumption Trends Report." The report indicates that visiting museums has become a high-frequency daily cultural leisure activity. Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that from January 1st to May 15th, 2026, the booking popularity for cultural and museum-related scenic spots on the platform increased by over 40% year-on-year, with one in every eight scenic spot bookings being for a museum. The ongoing "museum fever" is undergoing a critical shift: the core motivation for public museum visits has evolved from superficial "check-in" tourism to a deeper pursuit of immersive cultural experiences focused on understanding, knowledge acquisition, and emotional resonance. This shift is particularly evident in consumption behavior: since the beginning of the year, bookings for museum products that include guided tours on the Tongcheng Travel platform have surged by over 62%, with families and Generation Z being the most avid "listen-while-you-explore" participants. Concurrently, the destination landscape for museum travel is undergoing profound changes, with booking popularity for cultural and museum scenic spots in third-tier and lower cities exceeding the overall market average by 12 percentage points, signaling the advent of the "small city, big museum" era. These transformations are comprehensively reshaping the ecosystem of cultural and museum travel, from user behavior and destination choices to industry services. "Going to the museum" has become routine: 57% of bookings are made on the same day, with deep experiences becoming mainstream. In recent years, visiting museums has become a frequent and accessible choice in many people's daily lives. Data from Tongcheng Travel reveals that from January 1st to May 15th, 2026, booking popularity for cultural and museum scenic spots on the platform grew by over 40% year-on-year, with one in every eight scenic spot ticket bookings being for a museum visit. The decision-making process for visits also exhibits unprecedented spontaneity, with 57% of bookings being "same-day bookings, same-day reservations, same-day entry." At the same time, a group of "deep explorers" is emerging: some have set records of "visiting five museums in a day," pursuing breadth and efficiency, while dedicated enthusiasts visit the same museum over 20 times a year, treating it as an indispensable "spiritual home" for in-depth exploration. The report also outlines a clear profile of cultural and museum tourists. Families with children are the "backbone," accounting for over 40% of cultural and museum travel bookings in the past year, strongly driving the summer months (July-August) to become the peak visiting period. Generation Z shows the fastest growth rate and is the main force behind themed check-ins and cross-city tours, with the number of Generation Z users visiting museums in two or more cities increasing by 22% this year. Meanwhile, the "affluent and leisurely" silver-haired generation exhibits characteristics of deep travel, with over half choosing to visit during weekdays to avoid crowds and enjoy a tranquil environment. In terms of travel habits, Saturdays are the absolute peak for visitor flow, while "evening sessions" as an atmospheric experience option have seen a 52% year-on-year increase in booking popularity this year, reflecting strong market demand for differentiated experiences. Amid this trend, the shift in "what to do" at museums is more noteworthy than the act of "going to the museum" itself. Knowledge density and depth of understanding are replacing simple check-in counts as the core focus of the experience. A relevant executive from Tongcheng Travel's scenic spot business noted that bookings for museum products that include guided tours on the platform now exceed 40%. This data aligns with content trends on Zhihu: on the platform, discussions about the cultural connotations behind artifacts, archaeological sites, and curation ideas are gradually surpassing conventional appreciation topics such as the age and authenticity of objects. "We have observed a fundamental change in how users ask questions," said a relevant executive from Zhihu. "From 'What is this?' to 'Why is it like this?' and 'What has it experienced?', this reflects that audiences are no longer satisfied with passive viewing but are eager to enter historical scenes and connect with artifacts and the people behind them." The rise of cultural and museum "small cities": Booking popularity in third-tier and lower cities exceeds the overall market by 12%. This desire for "depth" and "stories" drives three interconnected trends that collectively shape the current landscape of cultural and museum travel and profoundly influence destination choices. First, there is a diversification and "downward diffusion" of cultural and museum travel destinations. In terms of urban appeal, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Shenyang, and Zhengzhou rank among the top 10 popular cultural and museum cities nationwide, thanks to their top-tier collections and strong cultural influence. At the same time, the public's pursuit of distinctive cultures has brought many "hidden gem museums" in non-first-tier cities and counties into the spotlight. Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that this year, booking popularity for cultural and museum scenic spots in third-tier and lower cities exceeds the overall market average by 12 percentage points. Liuzhou, Huaian, Taizhou, Chongqing, Xuzhou, Zhuzhou, Haikou, Deyang, Yancheng, and Anyang have become the top 10 "dark horse" cultural and museum cities, with annual growth rates exceeding 100%. In even more localized markets, Gaoyou City, Liyang City, Dayi County, Chengjiang City, Jiangyou City, Zhucheng City, Chun'an County, Yixing City, Yongji City, and Qingzhou City rank among the top 10 popular county-level cultural and museum cities. In terms of specific venue popularity, historical museums such as the Palace Museum, Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum (Terracotta Army), Shaanxi History Museum, National Museum of China, Nanjing Museum, Sanxingdui Museum, Luoyang Museum, Shanghai Museum, Suzhou Museum, and Hubei Provincial Museum top the list of the 10 most popular museums nationwide, thanks to their iconic status. Meanwhile, a group of thematic and distinctive "dark horse" museums have seen faster growth in booking popularity, with the top 10 including Nanjing Museum (Chaotian Palace), Shenyang Financial Museum, Baoji Bronze Ware Museum, China Red Sandalwood Museum, Henan Museum of Natural History, Three Gorges Migration Memorial Hall, Zhaoling Museum, Qinghai Provincial Museum, Qingshuihe Museum, and Shangyu Museum, reflecting the segmentation and diversification of tourist interests. This "downward" trend resonates with the broader wave of cultural localization. From a Generation Z returnee in Yongjia, Zhejiang, founding a non-heritage museum in their hometown to young people in Yiyang, Hunan, documenting and exhibiting their hometown's landscapes through photography, deep cultural practices are taking root across the country. In this process, the younger generation plays a dual role: they are both "pilgrims" flocking to top-tier museums and "translators" and "creators" of hometown culture. With broad perspectives, sharp online sensibilities, and contemporary aesthetics, they continuously explore local customs and history, transforming them into vibrant content that resonates with the present. Through the power of social media, they ensure that "small cities with big museums" and local stories continue to attract new interest. The solution for deep experiences: When professional guided tours become the "new bridge." Consuming for "understanding" has become a consensus, with "bringing a guide" transitioning from an optional add-on to an essential part of the experience. Since the beginning of the year, bookings for museum products that include guided tours on the Tongcheng Travel platform have surged by over 62%, with families and Generation Z being the most enthusiastic about "listening while exploring." In the "Stories Behind Artifacts" campaign jointly launched by Tongcheng Travel and Zhihu, professional contributors unanimously demonstrated the appeal of "deep decoding": they focused on "ordinary people" in history, decoded "great integrations" of civilizations, and worked to transform cold artifacts into warm, perceptible historical narratives. Silk Road scholar Wang Kai recounted "the century-long journey of a Yungang Buddha's eye," Ma Weidu, founder of the Guanfu Museum, shared the touching epic of the "Eastern Wei蝉冠菩萨像" returning across the sea, and historian Luo Sanyang deciphered inscriptions on a bronze鼎 as a "battlefield dispatch" from a Western Zhou general. They all transformed artifacts into perceptible technological epics and stories of cultural exchange. While such high-quality, in-depth content garnered tens of millions of views online, it also directly drove offline demand for professional guided tour services—audiences are no longer satisfied with merely "seeing" a story but crave "hearing" and "feeling" it on-site. To address the widespread need to "not only see but also understand," providing authoritative and engaging guided tour services has become key to connecting public interest with the value of artifacts. To this end, Tongcheng Travel has collaborated with numerous cultural and museum institutions, integrating systematic knowledge interpretation into the visitor experience through an "official co-construction, professional training" model. This model has taken root in several key cultural and museum scenic spots nationwide. At the Ming Tombs in Beijing, guided tour services are certified through official training to ensure accuracy and authority in historical narratives. At the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Sichuan, innovative NPC immersive guided tours make the poet's humble life tangible and relatable. After launching guided tour products at venues such as the Lianyungang Museum and Suzhou Silk Museum, visitor dwell time and satisfaction have significantly improved. Currently, Tongcheng Travel has initially established a nationwide network of cultural and museum guided tour services with hundreds of professional guides. This signifies the platform's evolution from a "ticket booking portal" to a "co-creator and service provider of deep cultural experiences," enabling in-depth exploration for visitors through standardized, high-quality knowledge services. On the 2026 International Museum Day, Tongcheng Travel simultaneously launched the "Treasure Museum Exploration Guide." Based on different interest perspectives such as "civilization halls, aesthetic strolls, and curious exploration," the guide plans thematic routes for users and integrates corresponding in-depth guided tours and content services, offering a practical reference for personalized, deep museum exploration. Users can access the activity page by searching for "Treasure Museum Exploration Guide" in the Tongcheng Travel app or mini-program. "In the past, our services focused more on 'how to get there.' Now, we aim to accompany users in addressing 'how to look and what to understand,'" said a relevant executive from Tongcheng Travel's scenic spot business. "As visiting museums transitions from 'checking in' to a form of deep leisure, we hope to make every visit more rewarding through higher-quality knowledge services."
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