Tongcheng Travel (00780) released its "2026 National Day Holiday Tourism Consumption Review" on October 7, based on platform travel data to recap tourism consumption during this year's National Day holiday.

During the extended National Day break, combining leave days to create longer trips pushed up demand for long-haul travel, cultural tourism vouchers across multiple destinations continued to stimulate consumption vitality, overnight trips, autumn foliage tours and county-level travel flourished across the board, and outbound and inbound tourism saw two-way growth.

Data shows that Urumqi led domestic long-haul destinations, while Chengdu ranked among the top nationwide for overnight tourism popularity; Altay became the top choice for autumn foliage tours during the holiday, Huidong County held the top spot among popular county-level destinations, and lesser-known counties such as Lingchuan County secured "dark horse" status among county tourism destinations thanks to their distinctive landscapes.

For outbound travel, visa-free countries in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand remained the top choices for Chinese travelers, while booking popularity for European destinations such as Iceland and France doubled. Holiday traffic from Hong Kong residents heading north combined with inbound overseas visitor flows, driving significant increases in inbound flight bookings across multiple mainland cities.

During the holiday, demand surged for smart travel services such as AI itinerary planning and scenic area AI commentary, providing convenience for public holiday travel and reflecting new trends in the diversification of domestic tourism consumption.

Voucher Effects Are Significant, with Spending Voucher Deployment in Popular Destinations Rising 325% Year-on-Year

During the National Day holiday, cultural tourism voucher campaigns across various regions added fuel to an already booming holiday travel market, powerfully stimulating local and cross-provincial tourism consumption in the relevant areas.

Before the National Day holiday, Tongcheng Travel successively integrated cultural tourism voucher campaigns from over ten destinations including Guangdong Province and Suzhou City, with cumulative integrated amounts exceeding 60 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 325%.

Voucher campaigns in most destinations covered the National Day holiday period, effectively boosting local holiday cultural tourism consumption vitality, and "search for vouchers before booking" became a money-saving trick for many consumers during their holiday travel.

During the long holiday, the destination provinces with higher search popularity for cultural tourism vouchers on the Tongcheng Travel platform mainly included Guangdong Province, Sichuan Province, Jiangxi Province, Qinghai Province and others; destination cities with larger search volumes mainly included Suzhou, Nanchang, Harbin, Ganzhou, Lhasa, Xuzhou, Yancheng and Linyi.

Compared with previous years, the distribution of cultural tourism vouchers across various regions during this year's National Day holiday showed markedly improved precision in target customer group selection and category structure.

For example, Sichuan Province, targeting the concentration of family groups during the Golden Week, introduced cultural tourism and sports vouchers aimed at the elderly and children, distributed alongside general-purpose vouchers, effectively driving family tourism consumption.

Additionally, given the higher proportion of long-haul overnight visitors during the extended holiday, voucher distribution in multiple cities increased the deployment of accommodation vouchers, effectively boosting hotel booking popularity during the holiday period.

Extended Leave Drives Long-Haul Travel Demand, Urumqi Tops Long-Haul Destination Rankings

The "request 3 days off for 13 days off" extended leave strategy further pushed up domestic long-haul travel demand during the extended holiday.

Data from the Tongcheng Travel platform shows that overnight visitor numbers at traditional long-haul destinations increased by more than 20%, with northwestern destinations such as Xinjiang, Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu seeing increases exceeding 30%.

Based on booking data for flights, vacation packages and other products on the Tongcheng Travel platform, the long-haul destinations with higher overall travel popularity during the National Day holiday mainly included Urumqi, Sanya, Kunming, Altay Prefecture, Lijiang, Xining, Diqing, Beihai, Guiyang and Xishuangbanna.

Compared with previous years, consumers spent more days in a single destination, and in-depth single-destination tours and multi-city "connecting tours" significantly boosted hotel booking popularity in popular destinations.

Among them, hotel booking popularity in Urumqi increased by more than 20% year-on-year, Altay Prefecture exceeded 70%, and hotel and homestay booking popularity in Diqing grew by nearly 90% year-on-year.

Data indicates that more and more young travelers are willing to stay in cities they like and deeply experience local customs, significantly driving consumption of local accommodation, cultural tourism, car rental and self-driving and other fragmented services.

Additionally, the ultra-long holiday brought by extended leave also significantly increased travel bookings containing two or more itineraries, with the average number of cities stayed in by multi-city tour users increasing by 1.2 compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, "transit tourism" also became a new trend during the extended holiday, with some long-haul connecting flights featuring layovers of over 10 hours becoming highly sought after by some travelers because they allow "one more city to explore."

During the holiday, booking popularity for popular routes suitable for "transit tourism" increased by more than 20% year-on-year.

Rich Cultural Tourism Activities Combined with Vouchers, Chengdu and Other Cities Rank Among the Top Nationwide for Overnight Tourism

For holiday travelers, some destinations are suitable for "quick flash visits," while others are suited for staying and slowly experiencing 鈥?enjoying night views, watching sports, attending performances and more.

Each type of experience gives people a reason to stay, and high-popularity night tours combined with top-tier entertainment events became the "magic weapon" for driving overnight visitor flows to relevant destinations.

Data from the Tongcheng Travel platform shows that holiday accommodation visitor volumes in Chengdu, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Suzhou and Dongguan ranked among the top nationwide.

During the extended holiday, destinations with relatively large overnight visitor flows not only had strong cultural tourism resource foundations but also hosted rich and diverse cultural tourism activities or popular sports events simultaneously, with some destinations also benefiting from hotel and cultural tourism vouchers.

For example, Chengdu hosted multiple celebrity concerts and international youth football elite tournaments and other events; Suzhou not only had popular events such as the "Su Super League" in full swing but also simultaneously distributed sizable hotel and tourism vouchers, with holiday hotel booking popularity increasing by more than 20% year-on-year, ranking among the top for destinations of the same tier.

Beijing's Grand Canal Music Festival, China Open tennis tournament, National Museum National Day special cultural relics exhibition and other activities also significantly drove accommodation consumption popularity in related areas.

Additionally, some museums in Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and Dongguan opened night tour sessions, while well-known theme parks or scenic areas such as Chengdu Happy Valley, Shanghai Disneyland, Beijing Universal Studios and Hangzhou Songcheng Eternal Love scenic area offered nighttime performances that well satisfied overnight visitors' nighttime cultural tourism consumption needs and further boosted accommodation visitor flows in related areas.

Autumn Foliage Tours Lead Holiday Cultural Tourism Consumption, Altay Prefecture Tops Travel Popularity

During the National Day holiday, autumn colors deepened across the country, and autumn foliage viewing became the primary driver for many people's travel, with autumn scenery also becoming an important "engine" for holiday cultural tourism consumption in popular destinations across northwestern, northeastern and southwestern regions.

According to Tongcheng Travel platform data, the top ten destinations with higher booking popularity for autumn tour routes and hotel-tourism products during the National Day period were, in order: Altay Prefecture in Xinjiang, Aba Prefecture in Sichuan, Yanbian in Jilin, Hinggan League in Inner Mongolia, Diqing Prefecture in Yunnan, Shangrao in Jiangxi, Benxi in Liaoning, Chengde in Hebei, Bazhong in Sichuan and Jincheng in Shanxi.

Autumn foliage activities during the National Day holiday were diverse across regions 鈥?viewing forest seas of red leaves, ancient villages drying autumn harvests, experiencing classic autumn foliage self-driving routes, and appreciating the beauty of nature and culture amid deep autumn atmosphere.

The northern autumn colors of Altay, Changbai Mountain, the Greater Khingan Range and other places were deeply favored by tourists from southern regions.

Tongcheng Travel platform data shows that flight booking popularity from Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Changsha, Wuhan and other cities to Sichuan, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Jilin and Liaoning increased significantly, with contributions from northbound autumn foliage travelers.

"Rushing to Counties" Trend Continues to Heat Up, Huidong County in Guangdong Tops Travel Popularity

During the National Day holiday, county-level destinations with beautiful scenery and rich cultural tourism resources remained a travel choice for many people.

According to Tongcheng Travel platform hotel and cultural tourism booking data, the county-level destinations with higher nationwide travel popularity during the National Day holiday mainly included Huidong County, Yangshuo County, Kangding City, Shangri-La City, Boluo County, Changsha County, Wuyuan County, Pingtan County, Anji County and Pingyao County, most of which are located in traditional popular tourism destinations with rich and diverse cultural tourism resources that can meet diverse travel needs during the extended holiday.

Beyond traditional popular destination counties, some relatively lesser-known counties also achieved impressive results with highly distinctive natural landscapes and cultural resources, with visitor flow increases ranking among the top nationwide for similar destinations, becoming "dark horses" among county-level destinations.

Tongcheng Travel platform data shows that hotel-tourism product booking popularity increases in counties such as Lingchuan County, Xiuwu County, Taibai County, Qilian County, Liuba County, Daocheng County, Deqin County, Huguan County, Daxin County and Luding County ranked among the top nationwide for county-level destinations.

Among them, Lingchuan County's hotel-tourism booking popularity increased by more than 230% year-on-year, Xiuwu County more than 200%, Taibai County more than 130% and Qilian County more than 100%.

County-level destinations with larger booking popularity increases all possess highly distinctive cultural tourism experience projects or autumn foliage attractions. For example, Lingchuan County's South Taihang red leaves and cliff-hanging highway self-driving, Xiuwu County's Yuntai Mountain autumn foliage cultural tour and Taibai County's Taiyang Highway sea of clouds viewing are popular choices for autumn self-driving tours.

Qilian County's unique scenery of snow-capped mountains, Danxia landforms and grasslands in one frame became a county-level "blockbuster" this extended holiday, with local visitor numbers at one point exceeding the county's total population, and hotels and homestays experiencing "one room hard to find."

"The Whole World Knows Chinese People Are on Holiday," Hotel Booking Popularity in Iceland, France and Others Doubles

During the extended holiday, outbound and inbound tourism continued to maintain a positive "two-way" momentum, with multiple outbound destinations seeing doubled growth in popularity.

Tongcheng Travel platform international hotel and other outbound travel-related product booking data shows that South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, the United States, Italy, Spain and Australia ranked among the top for overall travel popularity.

Overall, visa-free Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, as well as South Korea, remained the top choices for residents' extended holiday outbound travel, while North America, Europe and Australia-New Zealand saw significant popularity increases.

Among them, European destinations such as Iceland, Switzerland and France all achieved doubled year-on-year growth in popularity.

In terms of travel methods, destination-based group tours and small group tours have become mainstream choices for Chinese outbound travelers, driving demand for transportation and tour guide services in relevant destinations, with 1-3 day group tours at popular destinations during peak periods seeing "one spot hard to find."

In terms of travel styles, demand for multi-country combined tours was strong, with booking popularity during the extended holiday rising by more than 60% year-on-year, with an average itinerary connecting 2.8 countries and trip lengths typically exceeding 7 days.

Additionally, single-country in-depth tours were also favored by young consumers, with Turkey, New Zealand, Australia, Morocco and Italy being relatively popular in-depth tour destinations.

During the National Day period, Hong Kong residents heading north for autumn tours combined with inbound visitor flows from foreign tourists, pushing up inbound tourism popularity in some tourist cities.

Data from HopeGoo, Tongcheng Travel's international travel platform, shows that during the National Day holiday, flight booking popularity for routes from Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow and other places to popular mainland tourist cities such as Nanjing and Hangzhou increased by more than 20%, with some routes seeing increases exceeding 80%.

For National Day holiday travel, from booking itineraries to planning routes to answering travel questions, travel AI was everywhere.

In the first four days of the extended holiday, Yuanbao users' queries to Tongcheng Travel's intelligent agent DeepTrip for travel-related information increased by more than 50% compared to regular days, while DeepTrip's overall visits during the extended holiday also achieved doubled growth.

In holiday tourism consumption, travel AI application scenarios are becoming increasingly diverse. Beyond itinerary planning and Q&A, demand for scenic area AI commentary services also maintained high-speed growth momentum. The "AI Tour Companion" developed by Tongcheng Travel launched intelligent commentary services at popular scenic areas including Niushou Mountain, Wuhou Shrine, Jiuhua Mountain, Prince Gong's Mansion and Yanoda, with average daily visits reaching new highs.