SINGAPORE, 16 September 2026: Fliggy, a leading online travel platform and wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, has released its 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day Holiday Travel Forecast.
The findings point to strong long-haul demand and growing interest during the combined holiday period, which spans 13 days from 25 September to 7 October and is popularly tagged as Golden Week.
Long-haul travel leads demand
- Long-distance domestic destinations lead holiday demand. Chengdu, Urumqi, Kunming and Sanya rank among Fliggy’s most-booked destinations. Xinjiang, Xizang, Qinghai and Northeast China dominate the list of fastest-growing destinations.
- Long-haul international destinations including Australia, New Zealand and Italy are proving as popular as established short-haul favourites such as South Korea and Thailand. Slovenia, Romania and Madagascar also stand out as fast-growing emerging destinations.
Experience-led travel gains momentum
- Bookings for autumn foliage products in destinations such as Ejina and Yichun have more than doubled year-on-year (YoY), highlighting demand for limited-time natural attractions.
- Travellers are also seeking bucket-list experiences. Whale-watching bookings have surged more than 200% YoY, while skydiving bookings are up nearly 80% and glacier-hiking bookings more than 50%.
- Wildlife and nature experiences are gaining ground. Bookings for sightseeing flights over Australia’s Heart Reef have more than doubled YoY, while little penguin viewing and koala encounter bookings have risen 160% and 120%, respectively.
- Concerts and sporting events also drive holiday travel. During the pre-holiday booking peak, searches for “concert” on Fliggy surged 8.8 times YoY.
Hassle-free options gain popularity
- Domestic chauffeured-car bookings have increased by more than 40% YoY as travellers seek flexible itineraries and self-paced holidays.
- Cruise bookings have risen nearly 70% YoY, supported by demand for convenient, all-in-one holiday packages.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand forecasts strong tourist arrivals from China during the so-called Golden Week holiday running from 25 September to 7 October.
TAT expects about 250,000 Chinese tourists to visit Thailand during the extended Golden Week travel period, with tourism revenue projected at around THB11.5 billion. The projections represent year-on-year increases of 24% in arrivals and 37% in revenue during the 13 days spanning the Mid-Autumn Festival and China’s National Day holiday.
October bookings to Thailand are up 16%, and flight searches from China are rising 24%. Demand is coming from major cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Chongqing, while direct flights connect Chinese travellers with Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Udon Thani.
The extended holiday is expected to support longer stays, higher spending, and travel to a wider range of Thai destinations. With projected revenue growing faster than arrivals, TAT sees an opportunity to attract higher-value travellers while encouraging visitors to explore beyond established tourism centres.
(Source: Fliggy and TAT)
