Sardinia's online bookings from China more than double after Huawei and Petal Ads campaign

Results of the promotion in China presented in Cagliari: searches for the island up 90%, more visitors and longer stays

CAGLIARI, Italy, Oct. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In China, more people are searching for Sardinia, watching it, and now booking it. Online searches for the island grew by 90%, and bookings on online travel agencies (OTAs) more than doubled, rising by 108%. These are the results of the campaign carried out by Regione Sardegna's Department of Tourism with Petal Ads, Huawei's programmatic advertising platform, presented today at the T-Hotel in Cagliari at the conference 'Sardegna chiAMA Cina – Discover, connect, attract'.

The event was opened by Franco Cuccureddu, Regional Councillor for Tourism, and Dr. Jaime Gonzalo, Vice President of Huawei Ecosystem in Europe, followed by a seminar on the opportunities of the Chinese market moderated by Alessio Viola, anchorman at Sky TG24, with Cristiano Varotti, Area Manager East Asia at ENIT; Paolo Manca, President of Federalberghi Sardegna; Davide Dal Maso, CEO of China Digital Marketing; Maria Salvati, Co-founder of Jilitour; and Maurizio Battelli, property manager and President of Associazione Extra.

More visitors, longer stays

The campaign ran in China from 15 May to 14 June 2026. Early data from Petal Ads, measured shortly after it ended, show that Chinese visitors to Sardinia rose by 5.4% and their average stay grew by 13.6%.

Strong awareness among a premium audience

Mobile ads generated 21 million impressions, with premium placements such as full-screen ads shown when an app opens reaching a click-through rate of 6.15%, and users spent an average of 18 seconds on the Chinese-language landing page. Digital screens at Shanghai and Beijing airports, in commercial districts and in the Shanghai metro reached 8.65 million people, while six Chinese content creators generated 3.5 million impressions on Douyin, China's TikTok, and RedNote (Xiaohongshu), a leading travel-planning app. Of those who clicked, 81% live in China's largest cities and over 87% show high travel-spending intent.

The work continues: the Region is present at trade fairs across Asia, four influencers are touring the island, and a new Petal Ads campaign aims to attract Chinese tourists beyond the summer season.

"The results of the campaign confirm the importance of investing in international markets with great potential, such as China, and of complementing traditional promotion with tools that can precisely identify the most promising audiences," said Franco Cuccureddu, Regional Councillor for Tourism. "For a destination like Sardinia, with its outstanding natural, cultural and food and wine heritage, it is essential to make our offer known to visitors with high spending power. Our collaboration with Huawei helps us better understand this demand and develop targeted initiatives. We want people to discover Sardinia as a whole, making the island an attractive destination all year round."

"Chinese tourists are becoming more experienced and selective, and they plan their trips through trusted digital channels," said Dr. Jaime Gonzalo. "For Sardinia the opportunity is a reality with strong potential. Now the sector needs to prepare, from Chinese-language information to tailored immersive experiences, to turn this interest into actual visits."

Sardinia's results show that the Chinese market is closer than many European companies think, and Petal Ads, combining Huawei's consumer insights with cross-cultural expertise, helps brands turn it into a real opportunity.

About Petal Ads

Petal Ads is Huawei's programmatic advertising platform. Huawei is a trusted premium brand in China, where it leads the smartphone market with a 22.6% share in Q2 2026 [i] and holds 76.6% of the foldable segment [ii]. Using Huawei's first-party data, Petal Ads reaches Chinese consumers with contextual, non-intrusive formats and has worked with more than 100 tourism partners worldwide.

Learn more at ads.huawei.com or contact petalads@huawei.com.

[i] IDC, "Why Huawei and Apple Grew While China's Smartphone Market Fell Again in Q2 2026", 14 July 2026.

[ii] IDC, Q1 2025.