(Yicai) July 10 -- Bilibili World 2025, one of China’s largest expos for anime, comics, and gaming enthusiasts, is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of teenagers and young adults, underscoring the growth of ACG cultural tourism.

The country’s ACG fans, especially those born after the year 2000, are increasingly eager to travel for community gatherings, travel platforms data show.

The three-day Bilibili World, which is organized by video-sharing platform Bilibili, kicks off in Shanghai tomorrow. Last year’s event drew more than 700 exhibitors and 800 content creators from China and abroad as well as 250,000 visitors, making the expo one of the largest events of its kind in the country.

China became the world’s largest ACG market last year, with the industry valued at over CNY270 billion (USD37.6 billion), surpassing both the smart home and coffee sectors, according to Qianzhan Industrial Research Institute. The country had 503 million ACG enthusiasts as of 2024, according to data mining firm iiMedia Research.

Meituan Travel, a travel booking platform, reports that in the lead-up to Bilibili World cultural and tourism bookings in Shanghai jumped 35 percent this week from the prior week. Searches for train tickets to the city climbed 36 percent year on year, while flight bookings soared nearly 50 percent. Early reservations for premium hotels near the venue surged nearly sixfold.

Notably, Meituan Travel also found that nearly 15 percent of all visitors booking high-end hotels in Shanghai in the first week of July were born after 2000.

Bilibili World draws visitors from cities both large and small. Among those born post-2000 and traveling by air, most will come in from cities such as Beijing, Changchun, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Xi’an.

However, visitor numbers from smaller cities are rising faster. Flight bookings from Baotou (Inner Mongolia), Zhangjiajie (Hunan), Heze (Shandong), Qionghai (Hainan), and Jiayuguan (Gansu) are outpacing the growth seen in first- and second-tier cities.

Before the event begins, many travelers are flocking to Bailian ZX, a commercial complex in Shanghai often dubbed the “Akihabara of China,” in reference to Tokyo’s iconic ACG and electronics town. Meituan Travel data show that, in the first week of this month, food searches near the mall surged more than ninefold, while hotel searches nearby jumped over fourfold.

Editor: Emmi Laine