With the summer family travel wave receding and the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays still on the horizon, the travel market in early to mid-September is enjoying its most comfortable lull period of the latter half of the year.
Recent data from multiple platforms indicates that although this off-peak window has been noticeably compressed by the popularity of the "take 3 days off, get 13 days" extended leave strategy, airfare and hotel prices have generally dropped by 30% to 50%. Senior travelers and young professionals have taken over from family tourists, fueling an autumn consumption window that defies the typical off-season slowdown. Meanwhile, bookings for the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays have already entered an accelerated phase, with extended-leave trips, autumn foliage viewing, and long-haul outbound travel all gaining momentum concurrently.
Senior Travelers and Young Professionals Lead the Off-Peak Charge; Mid-to-High-End Hotel Rates See Discounts Over 50%
The summer travel season was dominated by families and students, but September's travelers are primarily senior citizens and young office workers.
Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that among those traveling off-peak in September, travelers aged 55 and above, along with young professionals using annual leave to carve out 3-to-4-day getaways, make up a significant share. Tuniu's statistics are even more direct: among users taking long-haul domestic or outbound off-peak trips, travelers aged 50 and above account for more than half of all trips taken.
Price flexibility is the most compelling driver behind this wave of off-peak travel. According to Tongcheng Travel's discounted flight rankings, airfares from Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Beijing to destinations such as Chongqing, Guangzhou, Urumqi, Guiyang, Xi'an, Changsha, Xiamen, and Kunming are generally as low as 15% to 23% of standard rates in September. For instance, flights from Shanghai to Chongqing can cost as little as 200-300 RMB (excluding taxes), and Beijing to Changsha ranges from 300-400 RMB (excluding taxes). Overall, off-peak flight prices in September are 30%-40% cheaper than during the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, and are less than half the price compared to the peak on September 30th.
Hotel rates have also seen significant drops. Tongcheng Travel data reveals that average hotel prices before the Mid-Autumn holiday are 30%-40% lower than in August, with some resort-style hotels offering discounts of over 50%. For example, a five-star hotel in a popular second-tier city costs around 700 RMB during the September off-peak period, but rises to 1,000-1,470 RMB during the National Day Golden Week.
Looking at destinations, demand for summer escapes and coastal island trips has subsided compared to the summer months, while interest in autumn foliage-viewing experiences is rising rapidly. Tongcheng Travel data shows that routes featuring Jiuzhaigou and Daocheng Yading in Sichuan, Guilin in Guangxi, Zhangjiajie in Hunan, Huangguoshu and Libo Xiaoqikong in Guizhou, Enshi Grand Canyon and Shennongjia in Hubei, and Kanas in Xinjiang are among the most popular, with Jiuzhaigou, Daocheng Yading, Kanas, and Enshi set to enter their prime foliage-viewing windows first. Tuniu's ranking of top autumn foliage destinations highlights Shangrao, Beijing, Anshun, Altay, Huangshan, Jiujiang, Xining, Chifeng, the Greater Khingan Range, and Hulunbuir as preferred choices for its users this season.
Early Birds for Mid-Autumn and National Day Holidays Save 30%-50%; More Travelers Opt for Split Itineraries
With only three working days separating this year's Mid-Autumn Festival from National Day, the "take 3 days off, get 13 days" strategy is expected to push the National Day travel peak from September 24th all the way through October 6th, making this year's off-peak window significantly shorter than last year's. Tuniu data shows that over 50% of users booking long-haul outbound tours covering the National Day period plan to depart during the Mid-Autumn holiday or even earlier.
On the flip side, this same extended-leave strategy creates the longest travel window of the year. Qunar data indicates that hotel bookings for September 28th-30th have surged 52% year-on-year, with those three days accounting for 15% of all bookings across the 13-day holiday period. Tujia Homestay data corroborates this trend, showing a significant year-on-year increase in homestay bookings for September 28th-30th, with travelers aged 18-30 making up nearly half (48%) of all bookings, and overall homestay reservations up close to 60% year-on-year. Young people who skipped summer travel may be making up for it en masse during the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays.
Unlike previous years, which typically saw a single National Day travel peak, this year's back-to-back holidays are generating two distinct peaks. Qunar data shows that more people departed for the Mid-Autumn holiday than on National Day itself: the first day of the Mid-Autumn holiday (September 25th) is projected to hit this year's travel peak, with a 1.7-fold year-on-year increase, while October 1st marks the second peak. Additionally, more travelers are opting for split itineraries, visiting family first before heading off on leisure trips. Qunar data reveals a nearly 20% year-on-year increase in travelers booking flights to two or more destinations. Similarly, Tujia data shows that bookings by users reserving homestays in two or more cities account for nearly 30% of all orders, up 12.8% year-on-year.
Getting an early start is primarily driven by price. Qunar data shows that travelers departing on September 22nd enjoy average fares 30% lower than on the first day of the Mid-Autumn holiday and 50% lower than on National Day. Due to the extended holiday period, average airfares from September 27th to October 1st are at their lowest for that period in three years, with fares on some popular routes more than 10% cheaper than last year. Return travel is also more dispersed this year, spread across October 4th-7th, resulting in a smoother peak. Average return flight prices on October 4th are over 20% lower than during last year's return rush.
Yang Han, a researcher at Qunar's Big Data Research Institute, notes that this year's extended double holiday is advantageous for both long-distance travel and off-peak trips, leading to higher overall travel enthusiasm compared to previous years, but at a lower cost to travelers.
"Diagonal Flights" for Autumn Foliage Are Hottest; Bookings for Popular Routes Over 2,000 km Double
This Mid-Autumn and National Day holiday period, the ample time off is making "diagonal flights" spanning thousands of kilometers the dominant booking trend. Qunar data shows significant growth in popularity for top foliage-viewing destinations like Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Qinghai. Bookings for popular routes exceeding 2,000 km have doubled year-on-year: Lhasa-Shanghai bookings are up 4.4 times, Lhasa-Beijing up 3.4 times, and Lhasa-Guangzhou up 3.3 times. Routes like Xining-Shanghai, Urumqi-Nanjing, and Urumqi-Wuhan have also seen nearly 2-fold growth.
Smaller "micro-airport" cities are also seeing a surge in popularity. According to Qunar data, Yanji in Jilin Province tops the list for flight booking growth among smaller airport cities, with a 3.8-fold increase. Zhongwei in Ningxia and Altay in Xinjiang, both prime autumn foliage destinations, follow closely with nearly doubled flight bookings. During the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, flight bookings to third-tier and below "treasure cities" have grown by over 30% year-on-year. Tujia Homestay data also shows that bookings for homestays in Altay, Xinjiang have jumped to the top 8 cities nationally, while Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia and Aba in Sichuan have both entered the top 30 cities for homestay bookings. Bookings for yurt-style accommodations have surged 110% year-on-year. Hu Yang, Senior Vice President of Tujia Homestay, notes: "More and more travelers no longer view accommodation merely as a place to rest; they want to stay within the scenery and immerse themselves in local life."
It's also worth noting that Qunar data shows the highest growth in flight purchases comes from residents of third-tier and below cities. Flight purchases by residents of Ya'an in Sichuan and Qingyuan in Guangdong have doubled year-on-year, while cities like Wanning in Hainan, Yangjiang in Guangdong, Liaoyang in Liaoning, Liupanshui in Guizhou, Tai'an in Shandong, and Zhangjiakou in Hebei have all seen growth exceeding 80%. Among travelers booking their "first-ever flight," those departing from third-tier and below cities have increased 40% year-on-year. Outbound travel is also rapidly penetrating lower-tier cities, with outbound flight volume from third-tier and below cities growing nearly 30%, outpacing first-tier cities.
The extended holiday is also a boon for long-haul outbound travel. Qunar data shows that its users have booked hotels in over 3,800 cities globally, with bookings for hotels in popular countries up 48% year-on-year. Bookings for long-haul routes exceeding 8,000 km have grown over 30% year-on-year. Benefiting from visa-free policies and new routes, flight bookings to Cape Town, South Africa have surged 4.3 times, and bookings to destinations over 10,000 km away, such as São Paulo in Brazil, Lisbon in Portugal, and Santiago in Chile, have doubled. Additionally, a trend of "transnational multi-destination trips" is emerging, with bookings for dual-country hotel packages like "Singapore + Malaysia," "France + Italy," and "Kenya + Tanzania" increasing 1.2 times year-on-year on Qunar's platform. Outbound car rental orders have grown nearly 7-fold year-on-year, with the US, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Italy, and Norway seeing the highest volumes, and one-way rentals accounting for 34% of orders. Domestic car rentals are also booming, with orders up over 50% year-on-year. Travelers renting for 3-7 days make up nearly 60% of users, and orders in Urumqi, Lhasa, and Yining have more than doubled.