Longer holidays fuel tourism, create spending spree

More flexible vacation plans by people during the just-concluded Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays have fueled tourism consumption, creating a spending spree both domestically and at overseas destinations.

This year's National Day holiday lasted seven days, from Thursday to Wednesday, and some people combined it with the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday to extend their break to as long as 13 days, stimulating both domestic and outbound travel.

Figures from travel portal Trip.com Group show that demand for long-distance tours surged during the holiday, with more than 10 percent of people who booked domestic itineraries on the platform extending their vacations to eight days. The proportion was less than 6 percent in 2024.

While traditionally popular cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou retained their appeal among tourists, county-level and village destinations demonstrated strong competitiveness during the holiday, thanks to their distinctive local customs, traditions and cuisines, according to travel agencies.

Yang Yanying and her 5-year-old son visited Huangling, a village in eastern China's Jiangxi province, during the holiday. The village is known for its Hui-style architecture and the local practice of shaiqiu, or drying crops in bamboo baskets on rooftops or window sills.

"It's hard to see and experience such down-to-earth village scenery and life in cities, and it's also a good place for my child to learn about crops and experience the atmosphere of the harvest," said Yang, who lives in Beijing.

Online travel agency Qunar said that county and village destinations dominated its top 10 hot spots during the holiday, including Gexian and Huangling villages in Jiangxi province, as well as Jiu­zhaigou, a nature reserve and national park in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Chinese people's strong appetite for travel and consumption has also extended to overseas destinations, particularly those which are further afield.

A report jointly released by Tuniu and China Mobile on Wednesday showed that visits by Chinese travelers to Canada, South Korea and the Netherlands doubled during the National Day holiday, while trips to Turkiye and Morocco registered year-on-year growth of more than 50 percent.

Li Xu, a Beijing resident who traveled to South Korea from Friday to Monday, said he saw many Chinese travelers in Seoul, adding that it really was a "golden week" for tourism. Several of his friends extended their holidays and visited Europe during the break, he added.

Yang Han, an analyst at Qunar, said that the nation's more flexible arrangements for taking leave allow people to plan their vacations in more varied ways, which may help reduce travel costs, improve travel experiences and stimulate consumption at destinations.

chengsi@chinadaily.com.cn