Chinese consumers opted for more personalized and flexible travel options for the weeklong National Day holiday, with significant increases in bookings for short trips, independent travel, and private group vacations, industry players said. Both domestic long-haul trips and travel abroad are gaining popularity, and traditional cultural tours and autumn excursions have emerged as top choices, said Tuniu Corp, a Nanjing, Jiangsu province-based online travel agency. Running from October 1 to 7, the National Day holiday is the last long holiday of the year, and bookings for flights and hotels exceeded levels during the same period last year, Tuniu said. “Some people took an extra two-day leave on September 29 and 30 and thus combined it for a 10-day break in total,” said Qi Chunguang, Vice President of Tuniu.
Some of the most popular domestic destinations included Huangguoshu waterfall in Guizhou province, the largest waterfall in Asia; Lushan mountain and Wuyuan in Jiangxi province; Huangshan mountain in Anhui province; as well as the Kanas scenic area in Xinjiang. Destinations abroad included Japan, Thailand, the Maldives, Indonesia, Turkiye, the France-Italy-Switzerland itinerary, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia, Singapore and Russia. “Emerging destinations such as the Serbia-Montenegro-Bosnia route, the Georgia-Armenia-Azerbaijan route, and the Czech Republic-Hungary-Austria route have also seen a peak in popularity during the National Day holiday, becoming hot choices for many seasoned travelers who are seeking unique experiences,” Qi said. Driving their own car has emerged as one of the most popular modes of travel for Chinese consumers. An increasing number of travelers are also opting to take high-speed trains to their destinations, and then participate in local group tours or rent cars.
In the summer vacation, bookings of car rentals and per capita spending on such rentals jumped 40% and 20%, respectively, on a yearly basis, said China’s largest online travel agency Trip.com Group. Overseas car rentals were also up. Trip.com reported a 160% surge in overseas car rentals this summer. Tourists who prefer to drive their own car or hire one were mainly born in the 1980s and1990s, and car rental bookings made by tourists born after 2000 expanded by 77% over last summer, outperforming all other age groups. Most young drivers came from Beijing; Shanghai; Chengdu in Sichuan province; and Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, said Trip.com. There are also more female drivers. From beaches with breathtaking views to vast grasslands, women have been traveling further afield. “Car rental bookings made by females have maintained growth for five consecutive years. This summer, women – especially those born in the 1990s – contributed 41% to the total booking volume of car rentals,” said Shen Jiani, Senior Researcher with Trip.com Group. “Some popular domestic routes included the ring roads of Hainan province, western Yunnan province, Xinjiang and Gansu,” Shen said.
China’s tourism market has entered a new stage of development in the past few years. The tourism market in smaller cities has shown huge growth potential, while travelers have increasingly diversified demands, said the China Tourism Academy in a report on the development of domestic tourism in 2023 and 2024. For instance, Inner Mongolia has attracted more travelers driving cars. This summer, the number of such travelers jumped 94% year-on-year, ranking at the top nationwide. The number of tourists who booked private and customized tours online surged 136%, said Trip.com. Among foreign visitors, one third came from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, and 20% of the total came from Singapore. Melbourne, Australia, also served as one of the region’s top sources of foreign visitors, the China Daily reports.
