The extended holiday period formed by the 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday is driving an early start to the cross-border travel market.
The "take three days off for 13 days off" strategy, resulting from the combination of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays in 2026, is significantly extending the tourism consumption window and boosting revenue for upstream and downstream industries. This super-long holiday has already triggered an early "sprint" in the cross-border travel market for the Mid-Autumn and National Day periods.
According to data from online travel platforms such as Ctrip, Tongcheng, and Tuniu, the "take three days off for 13 days off" strategy has driven search and booking activity for long-haul outbound travel to rise in tandem since August. From July 31 to August 4, search interest for flights departing during the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays doubled compared to the previous five days, while bookings for outbound travel packages increased by 60% over the same period. The momentum for cross-border travel is seamlessly transitioning from the summer peak into the National Day holiday.
Interviews by Yicai reporters have revealed that, under the leave-stacking strategy, many travelers are choosing to depart earlier. On online platforms like Tuniu, approximately 40% of users who have booked travel products for the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays plan to start their trips during the Mid-Autumn Festival or even earlier.
Based on data from major travel companies and platforms, the most popular outbound destinations for the combined Mid-Autumn and National Day period so far include Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Maldives, Turkey, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Visa-free and visa-facilitation policies are further activating the outbound travel market, with destinations like Russia, Brazil, and Uzbekistan seeing continued growth in popularity. For domestic travel, the top destinations for the holiday period are Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Chengdu, Urumqi, Sanya, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Shenzhen, and Nanjing.
"The leave-stacking strategy has created three staggered peak travel periods, extending from late September to early October. This breaks the concentrated consumption pattern of the traditional 7-day Golden Week, lengthening the tourism consumption window and simultaneously boosting revenue for related upstream and downstream industries such as aviation, hotels, retail, and catering. The industry has long researched and advocated for combining reasonable paid leave with statutory holidays to stagger and extend travel time, thereby stimulating consumption. This combined holiday period, coupled with personal leave, perfectly demonstrates how integrating statutory holidays with personal time off can drive more tourism spending," said Wei Changren, founder of Jinlv.com.
Tongcheng Research Institute analysis suggests that the 2026 combined Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays are reshaping the consumption rhythm and product formats of the cross-border travel market. On the demand side, the "take three days off for 13 days off" strategy is clearly pushing booking decisions forward, with searches and bookings for the combined holiday on the platform entering a fast track. On the supply side, airlines are increasing international routes, and destinations are continuously rolling out visa-facilitation measures, providing fundamental support for the explosion of long-haul cross-border travel. As the "second half" of the peak summer season deeply overlaps with the Mid-Autumn and National Day booking surge, the booking window for long-haul destinations has significantly lengthened, becoming a key trend in this year's National Day outbound travel market.