Chinese prefer short-distance travel for Mid-Autumn Festival

A short-distance trip will absolutely become the first choice among people who want to travel for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival holiday starting from Sept 10 to 12 in China, as the National Health Commission on Thursday suggested that the public stay put in their respective regions to reduce cross-city traffic flow and cut infection risks of the COVID-19 outbreak, China News Service reported on Friday.

This is in line with the predictions of multiple online travel service platforms who expected local tours and neighboring city tours will be the major preference as local governments have implemented a stay-put suggestion.

One day, one day and one night or two days and one night short tours are the most popular choices for tourists during the three-day holiday as per a recent report on Mid-Autumn Festival travel trends by ly.com, an online travel service platform. Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the top three hottest cities among people who plan an outing based on the bookings on ly.com.

Online travel agency Ctrip showed, as of August 30, bookings for short-distant travel rose 267 percent in a week. The hottest destinations were concentrated upon cities in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta such as Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Zhoushan, Shantou, Huzhou, Wuxi and Shenzhen.

Cheng Chaogong, chief analyst at ly.com, said that thanks to the scientific and precise epidemic prevention and control measures, traveling and consumption demand are expected to be further released over the holiday. Family visiting and leisure touring will be the major components.