The "take 3 days off, get 13 days off" promotion during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays has become a hit!

This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays are only three days apart, leading to a surge in the popularity of combining three days of leave with a 13-day holiday, effectively unlocking a nearly two-week travel window. Many people have already done their travel planning, significantly advancing their travel timeline.

The extended holiday ignites the desire to travel.

Long-distance inter-provincial travel becomes mainstream

With a month to go before the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, offline travel agencies across the country have already seen a surge in customers inquiring about travel plans for the holiday, hoping to finalize their trips face-to-face. With extended holidays and longer travel periods, many are planning long-distance inter-provincial trips.

Some people landed in Kashgar to experience the folk customs of southern Xinjiang, with a budget of 12,000 to 15,000 yuan; others planned to spend seven or eight days in western Sichuan before resting in Chengdu; and some tourists from Handan, Hebei, planned to drive for seven days to visit the coastal loop of Qingdao, Yantai, and Weihai in Shandong.

Many tourists expressed understanding regarding the price increases for airfares and hotels during holidays, acknowledging that a moderate premium during holidays is a normal market practice. Driven by the extended holiday, searches and bookings for domestic long-haul destinations accelerated more than 10 days in advance. Xinjiang, Tibet, Gansu, Yunnan, and Hainan were among the most popular long-haul destinations, with small group tours with family and friends being the most sought-after.

To address the diverse needs of consumers who want to combine holidays for travel, many travel agencies and platforms have launched a variety of product combinations, including group tours, independent travel, customized tours, and long-haul cruises, covering personalized travel options for different groups. Some travel agencies' study tours, wellness tours, intangible cultural heritage experiences, outdoor hiking, and rural travel routes are already experiencing high demand and short supply.

Data from major travel platforms shows that since August, searches for flights departing for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays have increased by 61% year-on-year, and bookings for popular domestic cities have increased by 30% year-on-year. Furthermore, county-level destinations such as Pingtan in Fujian and Yangshuo in Guangxi have emerged as new dark horses in this year's holiday bookings.

Search interest in outbound travel surged 72% year-on-year.

Emerging visa-free destinations drive growth driven by novelty.

The extended holiday, coupled with visa-free policies in many countries, has also unleashed the demand for long-distance outbound travel. More time and more flexible holiday extension options not only mean longer flight distances but also give tourists more autonomy in their choices.

According to data from major travel platforms, since August, searches for outbound travel during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays have surged by 72% year-on-year, with significant growth in airfares to long-haul destinations in Europe and South America. Notably, the proportion of first-time outbound travel bookings by those born after 2000 increased by 6 percentage points year-on-year.

In Suqian, Jiangsu Province, citizens are flocking to handle entry and exit procedures.

The ease of travel with Chinese passports is also improving. Visa-free destinations, with their convenience of spontaneous travel, have become the top choice for many consumers traveling abroad. In addition, the extended travel window created by the overlap of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays has led consumers to favor in-depth travel that combines outdoor experiences and cultural exploration.

Emerging destinations like Uzbekistan are also gaining popularity among Chinese tourists. Since August, during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, flight bookings from China to Uzbekistan have increased by more than 30% year-on-year.

Wang Wei, president of Spring Airlines Group, stated that bookings for outbound travel during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays have already exceeded 50%, with most European tour packages essentially sold out, a faster pace than last year. The market share of long-haul in-depth tours, small group tours, and customized products has increased significantly, offering tourists more diverse choices.

(Source: CCTV News)