China is expected to embrace a travel spree during the upcoming Holiday, the longest in history. Because this year's Mid-Autumn falls on October the 3rd, which overlaps with the one-week break over the National day. It's expected that the tourism income will grow 25 percent.
Figures from major travel agencies show, that most tour packages for the upcoming holiday have been sold out. And the number of travelers visiting Taiwan has more than tripled from the previous peak season.
Many outbound trips also witness surge in sales. Tour operators say, nobody cares about the traveling costs this season, because they just want to travel somewhere during the holiday.
Tour Operator of U-Tour said "Some exquisite tours were booked up long time ago. Only few regulator routes have seats available now. But overall speaking, most tour package are sold out now."
The upcoming holiday combines the National Day Holiday with the traditional Mi-Autumn Festival. That's why many travelers are taking this expected break as a chance to travel even further. Industry insiders are expected 200 million people to travel within the country next month, up 13 percent year on year. It's expected the tourism revenue will be up a quarter year on year.
Dun Jizhong, Marketing Manager of China Travel Service Head Office Co. said "We only expected sales for short-trips to be good. But the actually figures for long distance tours are not bad at all. The upcoming 8-day holiday has definitely boost the tourism business. Most packages in the market right now are designed for 8 days. We believe the majority travelers are officer workers. Because they dont have much free time in non-holiday seasons."
Analysts are also predicting 6 million Chinese to travel overseas during the upcoming holiday. And the number of people visiting Beijing could reach 30 million.
Tour operators also say, most tour groups are traveling between October 1st and 5th. And nearly 35 percent of the Chinese travelers have decided to begin their journey at the end of September to avoid travel rush.
Figures also show, that th number of individual travelers are also increasing. For the upcoming holiday, nearly 70 percent Chinese tourists have pick up individual tours for domestic routes. While 40 percent are not traveling in groups for overseas trips.
Fan Runjun, Market Manager of CTRIP.COM said "Most tourists are traveling on their on this years. Our research shows, nearly 70 percent of Chinese travelers have chosen individual tours for domestic trips."
Figures also show, the average tour price this season is down 10 percent from the previous year. To attract customers, many routes are offering more value-added services and freebies to reduce losses caused by the financial crisis.
But industry insiders also note, some hotel and air fares are still very low before the end of this month. They suggest consumers to book accommodations, and leave for their destinations before September 25th. Because it could help them save 30 percent of the traveling costs.
