China's Vice Minister of Transport Li Yang said 1.94 billion trips are expected to be made nationwide during the seven-day holiday. The average number of trips per day is expected to reach 277 million, up 0.7 percent from last year and up more than 19 percent from 2019.
Industry experts expect a surge in Chinese tourists booking international trips this week, with a focus on personalized travel experiences.
According to the study, 40% of those surveyed who planned to travel at the end of the year took their trip in October, showing a huge demand for overseas travel during the National Day holiday. Aviation and travel data analytics company ForwardKeys said the number of international air tickets purchased by Chinese people during Golden Week reached 85% compared to the same period before the pandemic, up 32% compared to last year. Among them, Europe and Southeast Asia are the top travel choices for Chinese tourists.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese tourists will enjoy the Golden Week holiday domestically and internationally.
According to the Securities Times (China) and the Xingdao (Hong Kong), many tourist attractions that require reservations, such as the Forbidden City in Beijing, have been sold out since October 1. Long-distance travel is especially popular, with the number of air travelers increasing by more than 50% compared to the same period last year. Traffic congestion is severe on highways in many places in Guangdong.
More than 30,000 tourists booked tickets to visit the Great Wall on the first day of Golden Week. To ensure smooth operations, the Great Wall's opening hours were moved up to 5:30 a.m. on October 1. The scenic area has specially planned a "Great Wall Morning" activity, allowing tourists to watch the sunrise atop the Great Wall.
Meituan data shows that as of October 2, searches for "National Day travel" increased 27 times year-on-year, and the top five popular destinations were Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Nanjing, and Chongqing. The data also shows that tickets to many tourist attractions were sold out on October 1.
This traditional holiday is expected to see a surge in Chinese tourists, especially overseas trips, due to the long break.
On the first day of the National Day holiday, according to preliminary estimates from the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, scenic spots at levels 4A and above received 2.625 million tourists, an increase of 5.1% over the same period last year.
Shanghai-Beijing, Beijing-Chengdu, Shanghai-Guangzhou... routes have become popular domestic routes in China. On October 1 alone, the number of flights on domestic routes exceeded 17,000 and the number of passengers nationwide is expected to exceed 2.2 million.
Many famous places are expected to be crowded with tourists.
This year’s Golden Week comes as China’s economy struggles with slowing growth and consumers remain tight-lipped. Officials are trying to boost domestic consumption to address the problem. The Ministry of Tourism said that the first three quarters saw 4.28 billion domestic trips, with total spending reaching 4.32 trillion yuan ($616 billion).
This year, visitors applied for visas an average of 68 days before departure, 29 days earlier than last year. This shows that Chinese tourists have regained confidence in traveling internationally after the pandemic. Lesser-known or visited destinations in Asia and Europe are also vacation options this time.
