Driven by the chance to take three days of leave for a 13-day break, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day outbound travel market has ignited early, with some travel agencies seeing bookings arrive much earlier than usual. Li Mengran, media and public relations manager at Utour, said that bookings for Mid-Autumn and National Day products have already exceeded 70 percent of capacity, and total traveler numbers are up 70 percent from the same period last year. Europe is the main driver, accounting for nearly half of all outbound bookings, with the number of travelers to Europe up about 140 percent year on year. Boosted by continued demand linked to the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, traveler numbers to North America have surged 480 percent year on year, while Australia and New Zealand destinations have seen outbound volumes more than triple compared with the same period last year. GZL said prices for popular departure dates such as the first Mid-Autumn tour group and the exact National Day holiday dates are 20 to 25 percent higher than regular September weekday prices, and it expects this year's Mid-Autumn and National Day outbound market to see three waves of departure peaks. Data from Umetrip shows that as of August 14, more than 1.35 million flight tickets had been booked on international and regional routes for travel between September 25 and October 7, up about 11 percent year on year.
Beijing Utour International Travel Service Co LtdBookings for Mid-Autumn and National Day outbound travel exceed 70% capacity, with traveler numbers up 70% year on year.
