With the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays in 2026 only three days apart, many people are paying attention to the extended holiday plan of "taking 3 days off to get 13 days off," which will create a nearly two-week travel window. The surge in travel desire has also led to a continued increase in demand for advance route planning.

At a physical store of a travel platform in Shanghai, a reporter noticed that even though there was still more than a month until the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, consumers were already frequently coming in advance to inquire about and plan their trips.

It is understood that many people tend to choose to combine holidays for travel, travel during off-peak seasons, and plan cross-provincial trips with longer planning periods.

In response to the diverse needs of consumers who want to combine holidays for travel, many travel agencies and travel 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 of people.

Data from travel platforms shows that since August, during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays in 2026, the search popularity for outbound flights has increased by 61% year-on-year, and the booking popularity for popular domestic cities has increased by 30% year-on-year. County-level destinations such as Pingtan in Fujian and Yangshuo in Guangxi are becoming new hot spots for "booking" during the long holiday.

Xie Xiaoqing, a researcher at Tongcheng Research Institute, stated that the "take 3 days off, get 13 days off" holiday extension plan has significantly accelerated booking decisions, with searches and bookings for domestic long-haul routes accelerating more than 10 days in advance. Domestically, long-haul destinations such as Xinjiang, Tibet, Gansu, Yunnan, and Hainan are leading in popularity, with small group tours for family and friends being the most popular.

The extended holiday has boosted the outbound tourism market, with long-haul, in-depth, and customized tours becoming a trend.

The extended holiday combined with visa-free policies in many countries has also unleashed the demand for long-distance outbound travel. Ample time means more choices and a greater flight radius.

Mr. Tang from Shanghai is inquiring about outbound travel products at a travel agency. He said that he plans to take an extra three days of annual leave during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays to create a long vacation of more than ten days, and embark on a multi-country European trip with his family.

Data shows that since August, searches for outbound travel during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays have increased by 72% year-on-year, with significant growth in flight bookings to long-haul destinations such as Europe and South America. Furthermore, in the "take 3 days off, get 13 days off" extended holiday plan, the proportion of first-time outbound travel bookings by those born after 2000 increased by 6 percentage points year-on-year.

Reporters observed that visa-free destinations, with their convenient travel advantages, have become the top choice for many consumers traveling abroad. Furthermore, the extended travel window created by the combined National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays has led consumers to favor in-depth travel experiences that combine outdoor activities with cultural exploration.

Wang Wei, president of Spring Airlines Group, stated that outbound travel bookings for the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays have exceeded 50%, with almost all European travel packages sold out, and the sell-out rate is much faster than in 2025. The market share of long-haul in-depth tours, small group tours, and customized products has increased significantly. Furthermore, visa-free entry, unique landscapes, and emerging differentiated destinations have provided tourists with more diverse choices.

(Source: CCTV.com)