China Holiday Travel Report 2026

China Holiday Travel Report 2026

All seven of China’s public holidays in 2026 have now ended. Of the six holidays for which China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) has published figures, the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) set record highs for both the number of domestic trips and total spending, while Qingming (Tomb-Sweeping Day), Labor Day, the Dragon Boat Festival and National Day all grew year over year (or on a per-day basis). This report uses the data to make one point: the foundations of China’s travel market are growing steadily, and the sources of that growth are clear.

Key takeaways

• 2.148 billion trips: China’s six public holidays with official MCT data generated about 2.148 billion domestic trips and RMB 1.92 trillion in spending in 2026.
• Every holiday grew: comparable growth rates ranged from 3% to 7%, and no holiday with comparable data declined.
• National Day 2026: 826 million domestic trips and RMB 738.38 billion in spending, up 6.3% and 4.3% on a per-day basis.
• More travelers, not bigger budgets: growth came mainly from more people traveling, while per-head spending stayed broadly flat.
• Longer, flatter seasons: peak days are less extreme, trips are longer and further, and older travelers, families, young cultural travelers and visa-free inbound visitors are driving demand.

National Day: the last public holiday of 2026

This year’s National Day holiday saw 826 million domestic trips across China, according to the MCT, down from the 888 million reported for last year’s combined National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

But it is worth remembering that last year’s break combined National Day with the Mid-Autumn Festival and lasted eight days, whereas this year’s National Day holiday lasted seven. On a per-day basis, last year’s figures were about 111 million trips and RMB 101.1 billion; this year’s were about 118 million trips and RMB 105.5 billion. Per-day trips rose 6.3% year over year and per-day spending 4.3%. The market continues to grow.

This also points to a much-discussed topic in China in recent years: the length, overlap and stacking of holidays change from year to year, so per-day figures, per-head figures and structure get closer to the heart of the trend than headline totals do. This is explained in more detail below.

China’s 2026 holidays: 2.148 billion trips, RMB 1.92 trillion

All of China’s public holidays for 2026 have now ended. The MCT has published national summaries for six of them (New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Qingming, Labor Day, the Dragon Boat Festival and National Day):

Together, the six holidays account for about 2.148 billion trips and RMB 1.92 trillion in spending. The Spring Festival and National Day, the two longest breaks, make up about 80% of that spending between them. The MCT did not publish national figures for the three-day Mid-Autumn holiday, so it is not included. What these numbers show:

1. Every holiday grew

Comparable growth rates fall between 3% and 7%: Labor Day +3.6%, Dragon Boat Festival +4.4%, Spring Festival about +5.7% per day, National Day +6.3% per day and Qingming +6.8%. No holiday with comparable data declined, and growth has been steady.

2. Visitor numbers are the main driver of growth

Comparing the official growth rates for trips and for spending, per-head spending over National Day was about 2% lower. The increase came mainly from “more people willing to go out,” and per-head spending over the holidays stayed broadly in line with last year.

3. Travel is spreading more evenly throughout the year

Trip.com Group’s data show that during this year’s Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, peak-day domestic bookings were about 1.75 times the daily average, down from 2.0 times in 2024 and 2.4 times in 2025, which means businesses’ trading periods are longer. Ministry of Transport figures show that over the seven days of National Day there were 2.142 billion cross-regional passenger journeys, about 306 million a day, which is 0.6% higher per day than over last year’s Mid-Autumn and National Day holiday. The picture was similar for Mid-Autumn, the Spring Festival and other holidays.

One further detail worth noting is the Mid-Autumn and National Day were separated by only three working days and the “take three days’ leave, get 13 days off” approach became popular. Trip.com Group data show that one in every ten travelers combined the two holidays into a single long break and nearly half of those who did so were away for more than eight days. This means that holiday stacking and staggered travel have moved some trips outside the official holiday windows, so the industry’s peak season is longer than the official holiday calendar suggests.

Who is driving China’s holiday travel growth?

Older travelers: taking trips outside the holidays

Tongcheng Travel’s data show that since June, people aged 55 and over accounted for nearly 70% of bookings for vacation products departing from travelers’ home cities, up about 8% on a year earlier.

This group has more flexible time and does not need to follow the public holiday calendar, so it avoids the crowds of the long holidays. Qunar data show that in the two weeks around the Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang), the number of older people flying for leisure rose 40% month over month. Older passengers made up about 16% of those on planes, twice the highest single-day figure during National Day and according to Qunar older travelers stayed an average of 12.6 days on each long-stay trip in 2026. Trip.com Group’s report on silver tourism also shows that the share of older travelers going on trips on weekdays was 38% higher than at weekends. For this group, traveling off-peak is not a compromise but an advantage.

Families with children

We mentioned the new “spring break” holiday model in an earlier article. This spring, primary and secondary schools in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guizhou and other provinces trialed a spring break which, combined with Qingming, produced a break of up to six days. The share of under-18s among air and high-speed rail passengers rose and the number of passengers traveling more than 800km increased.

In its announcement on the Qingming holiday, the MCT said that family trips accounted for 37% of the value of all tourism bookings nationwide.

Tongcheng Travel’s data show that after the spring break was introduced, family trips’ share of bookings in April and May, traditionally the low season, rose by 18 percentage points year over year, and the average number of family trips per year rose by more than 1.4. Family travel no longer relies solely on the summer vacation; the dates of family trips are becoming more spread out.

Young travelers: culture, live events and skiing

During National Day, Trip.com Group data show that the share of cultural attractions in bookings by visitors aged 20 to 25 rose from about 41% in 2024 to about 48% and bookings for historic sites and museums each grew by about 70%. Tujia data show that the Gen Z and Millenials accounted for about half of the long-distance travel bookings made under the “three days’ leave for 13 days off” approach. At ski resorts, Gen Z made up 47% of ski-ticket bookings on Meituan. Trip.com Group’s New Year’s Day report showed that people born after 2000 made up 39% of travelers and those born in the 1990s 33%.

Young people care more about the experience of traveling than about ticking off popular sights.

Inbound and outbound travel

Foreign visitors: the impact of visa-free entry

National Immigration Administration data show that in the first half of 2026 foreign nationals made 22.91 million entries into China, up 20.4% year over year. Of these, 17.82 million were visa-free, 77.7% of the total, up 30.6%.

In the third quarter, foreign entries reached 11.60 million, up 15.6%, of which 8.99 million were visa-free, up 24.1%. Since August 20, the 240-hour visa-free transit policy has applied to 57 countries and the 30-day visa-free entry policy for Hainan to 61 countries.

Over China’s public holidays, foreign nationals made 728,000 entries and exits during Mid-Autumn, up 37.7% year over year. During National Day they made 682,000 entries, up 5.4%, of which 505,000 were visa-free, up 9.2%.

Foreign visitors’ preferences are also changing. Trip.com Group data show that cultural attractions’ share of inbound visitors’ attraction bookings rose from about 32% in 2024 to about 43%, as Chinese culture continues to draw foreign visitors.

Chinese outbound travel: going further

Over National Day, mainland residents made 4.44 million outbound trips, up 9.3% year over year; in the third quarter they made 48.51 million, up 7.5%. Trip.com Group data show that the share of outbound vacationers on trips of eight days or more rose from about 29% to about 42%. Holiday stacking is encouraging more Chinese travelers to avoid the crowds at home and enjoy their holidays abroad.

Opportunities and challenges

Staggered travel and “hidden-gem” small cities are the way to ease crowding

During National Day, tickets to the well-known Jiuzhaigou scenic area for October 1–6 sold out in advance; its maximum daily capacity is 41,000 visitors. At the same time, Trip.com Group data show that third-tier and smaller cities’ share of attraction bookings by travelers from eastern China rose from about 20% in 2024 to about 47%. The strain on popular attractions is being shared among more destinations.

Holiday stacking is a new trend

The popularity of “three days’ leave for 13 days off” is encouraging more people to turn annual leave into long breaks. Qunar data show that the number of people taking leave to travel on the three working days between the two holidays rose 52% year over year, and Trip.com Group data show that the average one-way distance of domestic trips has increased to about 560 km. Longer holidays and itineraries could mean that sales of large suitcases stay strong.

Inbound travel and older travelers are two faster-growing segments

In the first half of this year, foreign entries rose 20.4% year over year, and Trip.com Group data show that older travelers’ bookings over the past year grew at about ten times the rate of those of other age groups.

For the travel industry, 2026 has been a year of steady growth and an improving structure, and that is a reason for everyone in the industry to keep moving forward with confidence.