The combination of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays in 2026, creating a "take 3 days off, get 13 days off" super-long vacation, is already sparking the cross-border travel market. According to online travel platforms like Ctrip, Tongcheng, and Tuniu, searches and bookings for long-haul outbound travel are heating up starting in August, driven by this "3-off-13" strategy.

From July 31 to August 4, search volume for flights departing during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period doubled compared to the previous five days. Bookings for outbound travel packages also rose by 60% during the same period. The momentum from summer travel is now seamlessly transitioning into the National Day holiday.

Interviews with reporters reveal that with this leave-stacking strategy, many travelers are opting to depart earlier. On platforms like Tuniu, about 40% of users who have booked products for the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays are choosing to set off during or even before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Data from major travel companies and platforms shows that for outbound travel, popular destinations for the combined holiday period include Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Maldives, Turkey, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Visa-free and visa-friendly policies are further stimulating the outbound market, with destinations like Russia, Brazil, and Uzbekistan seeing rising interest.

For domestic travel, popular destinations for the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays include Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Chengdu, Urumqi, Sanya, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Shenzhen, and Nanjing. "The leave-stacking strategy creates three peak travel periods, lasting from late September to early October," notes Wei Changren, founder of Jinnet. "This breaks the typical concentrated consumption pattern of a 7-day Golden Week, extending the tourism spending window and boosting revenue for related industries like aviation, hotels, retail, and catering. The industry has long advocated for combining paid leave with statutory holidays to stagger travel and extend trip times, thus driving consumption. This combination of two major holidays and personal leave demonstrates how statutory and personal leave can work together to boost tourism spending."

The Tongcheng Research Institute analyzes that the 2026 combination of the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays is reshaping the consumption rhythm and product offerings of cross-border travel. On the demand side, the "take 3 off, get 13 off" strategy is pushing booking decisions earlier, accelerating searches and bookings on the platform. On the supply side, airlines are increasing international routes, and destinations are introducing visa facilitation measures, providing a solid foundation for the surge in long-haul outbound travel. This deep overlap of the summer peak season's "second half" with the Mid-Autumn and National Day booking surge is significantly extending the booking window for long-haul destinations, marking a key trend for this year's National Day outbound travel market.