Domestic, overseas holiday bookings see strong growth

Holiday bookings for the upcoming National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival break are continuing at a feverish pace, with both domestic and overseas destinations clocking better-than-expected booking numbers and overseas destinations rolling out the red carpet to welcome Chinese tourists.

The National Day holiday, which typically lasts seven days from Oct 1 to 7, has been extended to eight days this year as it overlaps with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Oct 6.

"I can't wait to go on my vacation! I made the booking for my family's five-day trip to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region way back in August. Many of my friends left it till very late, going back and forth while deciding on a destination, and as a result, paid much more for both tickets and accommodation," said 36-year-old Beijing resident Wang Siyun, adding that she and her family have set Friday — the third day of the holiday — as their departure date, in order to avoid the peak travel rush.

Wang is not alone in being passionate about her travel plans, as several tourism agencies have been reporting robust booking numbers since mid-September.

The latest figures from travel portal Tuniu show that bookings for self-driving tours, independent tours and group tours have all registered robust growth on the platform. Bookings for self-driving and independent tours, for example, have increased by over 60 percent in the past week, from Sept 22 to Sunday, compared with the week before, from Sept 15 to 21.

Metropolises including Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan province remain the top choices for domestic travelers during the eight-day break.

Some second-tier cities and niche destinations, such as Huangshan in East China's Anhui province and Rizhao in Shandong province, are also witnessing growing bookings due to their natural beauty and unique cuisines, according to Tuniu.

"This year's National Day holiday is a longer-than-usual break and many people are stretching it even further by taking a few days off from work, which is good news for both domestic and overseas long-distance tourism markets," said Qi Chunguang, vice-president of Tuniu, adding that bookings for overseas trips have surged 110 percent year-on-year to date on the platform.

Chinese people's passion for traveling far and wide has made popular holiday destinations abroad roll up their sleeves to make Chinese tourists feel more welcome.

South Korea unveiled on Monday a trial visa-free entry policy for Chinese tourist groups, which will remain in effect till June 30, 2026, as part of its efforts to boost tourism. The policy allows groups of three or more Chinese travelers to enter South Korea visa-free and stay in the country for up to 15 days. South Korea's Jeju Island will continue with its existing policy of allowing both individual and group travelers from China to stay visa-free for up to 30 days.

According to travel portal Qunar, figures show that South Korean capital Seoul was one of the top overseas destinations on the search list of the platform on Monday, and was also among the top three destinations for Chinese people looking to spend the National Day holiday abroad based on hotel bookings.

In addition to South Korea, other Asian destinations including Japan, Indonesia, Maldives and Malaysia, as well as European countries such as Italy, France and Switzerland, have seen increasing bookings from China for the eight-day break.

Yao Jing, a resident of Beijing, set out for Greece on Monday on the first leg of a 10-day vacation, which also includes Italy, with her husband.

"We've taken two days off from work to leave early to avoid the travel rush and lengthen our holiday to 10 days. It's been a long time since we last went abroad and we will be visiting Santorini and Athens in Greece and Napoli in Italy during this holiday," she said.