Spring Festival Travel Report: Long-distance travel and outbound travel are highly popular, with 70% of tourists traveling for more than 4 days
During the Spring Festival of 2024, the popularity of the domestic and foreign tourism markets reached a new high. According to Mafengwo’s big data, long-distance travel-related orders accounted for more than 65% of bookings, with over 70% of tourists staying for more than 4 days. Additionally, 37.7% of tourists extended their trips to more than 6 days. The trend of young people going on reunion trips and then traveling with their families at different times has become increasingly popular during this year’s Spring Festival.
The top choice for popular cities during the Spring Festival holiday was Beijing, with traditional scenic spots such as the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, as well as New Year temple fairs like the Longtan Park Temple Fair attracting large numbers of visitors. The “First Wenyu Thousand Lantern Festival” in Beijing also saw a 150% increase in popularity, thanks to the thousands of Zigong intangible cultural heritage lanterns on display.
Other popular destinations during the Spring Festival included Xi’an, which saw a 400% increase in popularity due to the wonderful interpretation of traditional culture at the “National Style” sub-venue of the Spring Festival Gala. The Greater Bay Area, known for its range of food, beautiful scenery, and customs, also attracted a high number of tourists, with Guangzhou ranking as the second most popular city in China during the Spring Festival.
The main group of Spring Festival travelers continues to be “family and parent-child groups,” accounting for 45% of travelers. This year, however, there was a shift in trends, as more young people chose to balance “reunion” and “travel” by returning home to reunite with relatives before embarking on either a peripheral or long-distance self-driving trip, or a cost-effective outbound trip during off-peak periods.
In addition to traditional tourist hotspots, historical and cultural sites such as museums, grottoes, and temples became popular destinations for tourists during this year’s Spring Festival. Museums, including the Palace Museum, Sanxingdui Museum, National Museum of China, and Nanjing Museum, were among the top ten cultural attractions in Mafengwo.
The domestic tourism market saw an overflow of enthusiasm, and the foreign tourism market was also in full swing, with “New Malaysia and Thailand” ranking among the top five popular countries for outbound travel.
Overall, the Spring Festival of 2024 saw a significant increase in long-distance travel and outbound travel, with tourists opting for extended stays and a mix of traditional and non-traditional activities during the holiday.