China Logs 826 Million National Day Trips as Spending per Visit Falls

More daily travel, less spending per trip

China recorded 826 million domestic tourist trips and 738.375 billion yuan in tourism spending during its October 1 to 7, 2026 National Day holiday, according to figures released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on October 9. Average daily trips rose 6.3% compared with 2025, while average daily spending increased 4.3%.

Those gains came with a weaker measure of household spending: the average amount spent per domestic trip fell to 893.92 yuan, down 1.9% from 911.04 yuan a year earlier. That was the lowest figure since 2022, when spending per trip stood at 680.60 yuan during the period of severe COVID restrictions.

The ministry's holiday market statement described cultural and tourism activity as stable and orderly. It documented busy revolutionary heritage sites, rural excursions, 180 major performances and 107 million nighttime visits to designated cultural and tourism districts.

The distinction between daily growth and spending per trip is central to understanding the holiday. More journeys were made each day, but spending did not rise at the same pace. Strong demand for travel therefore did not translate into an equally strong increase in spending by each traveler.

The figures also require a calendar adjustment. This year's National Day break lasted seven days, compared with the combined eight day National Day and Mid Autumn Festival holiday in 2025. Comparing the two holiday totals without accounting for that difference would give a misleading picture of the pace of activity.

Why the holiday calendar changes the comparison

During the eight day break in 2025, domestic travelers made 888 million trips and spent about 809 billion yuan. The 2026 totals were therefore lower, by roughly 7% for trips and 8.7% for spending, even though activity increased when measured per day.

The 826 million trips this year amount to an average of 118 million a day, compared with 111 million during last year's eight day holiday. Spending averaged about 105.5 billion yuan a day this year, against approximately 101.1 billion yuan in 2025. These calculations explain why lower holiday totals can coexist with the ministry's reported daily growth.

Some travelers nevertheless had more time available than the official seven day break suggests. The Mid Autumn Festival holiday fell on September 25 to 27, leaving three intervening days before National Day. Taking additional leave allowed some people to arrange vacations lasting as long as 13 days. That extended travel window was not a universal 13 day public holiday.

• September 25 to 27: The Mid Autumn Festival break gave travelers an opportunity to begin longer vacations.
• October 1 to 7: The official National Day holiday covered the seven days used for the ministry's tourism totals.
• October 8: Trip.com data showed a larger share of travel crossing provincial boundaries.
• October 9: The Ministry of Culture and Tourism released its holiday market estimates.
• Late September through October: The nationwide cultural and tourism consumption campaign ran beyond the holiday itself.

Tourist trips are not counts of unique people. One person can make more than one trip, and transport passenger journeys can include several legs of the same vacation. The tourism and transport totals therefore measure different kinds of activity.

Longer journeys put transport networks to work

The Ministry of Transport reported 2.14 billion passenger journeys across regions during October 1 to 7, averaging about 306 million a day and rising 0.6% from a year earlier. Another report put the total at more than 2.1 billion and growth at 0.7%. The accounts differ slightly on the growth rate, but both describe a modest increase in a very large volume of travel.

Road journeys reached approximately 1.96 billion, with travel by private car accounting for nearly 80% of the reported road total. Traffic involving new energy vehicles, including electric vehicles, rose 35%. Reported expressway sections with serious congestion extending more than 10 kilometers fell 70%, while average daily car rental activity increased 25%.

Railways also faced heavy demand. Passenger trips exceeded 20 million a day for three consecutive days, with a reported record of 25.204 million on October 1. Four new high speed rail services opened around the holiday, including the Harbin to Yichun route and the Xiong'an to Shangqiu section of the Beijing to Hong Kong railway.

The new connection to Yichun, a forest destination in Heilongjiang, coincided with a 21.5% increase in visits to its monitored rated attractions during October 1 to 3. The Tangwang River forest and stone landscape and the Wuying Korean pine forest each drew more than 10,000 visitors daily.

Trip.com put the average domestic journey at about 560 kilometers in one direction. Air ticket sales for routes longer than 2,000 kilometers rose more than 40%, while travel across provincial boundaries accounted for 59% of activity on the platform, up six percentage points. Tuniu said tours lasting at least 10 days represented 26% of bookings.

Smaller destinations and rural activities gain ground

Travel growth extended beyond the biggest cities. Meituan and Dianping recorded more than three times as many visits to leisure and entertainment venues in cities in the third tier and below as before the holiday. Nanchang, Zhongshan and Yangzhou were among popular destinations. This comparison measures the holiday increase from the preceding period, rather than growth from the same holiday in 2025.

Tongcheng Travel reported a 42% annual increase in bookings for tourism products in county destinations. Travelers stayed an average of 3.2 days longer in counties than during the corresponding period last year. Fliggy recorded a nearly 50% increase in users buying travel products featuring villages and natural scenery.

The ministry identified autumn scenery, traditional crafts, agricultural activities, village night tours, bonfire markets and concerts in rice fields among popular rural experiences. These activities gave visitors reasons to stay beyond a brief stop at a scenic attraction.

Caijiagou, a hillside village in Shandong, illustrated that shift. Idle homes have been converted into an art gallery, a musical instrument museum and other cultural spaces, alongside craft events and folk music. Village official Liang Yunhui said the village had received more than 500,000 visits over several years, a cumulative figure rather than a National Day total.

Other destinations competed through drone shows, cliffside accommodation and outdoor museums. Fliggy reported glacier trekking bookings up more than 50%, skydiving bookings up nearly 80% and whale watching trips more than tripling. These are platform booking trends, not estimates for every traveler in China.

Revolutionary heritage and live events draw crowds

The ministry said 40% of tourists took part in activities such as visiting revolutionary sites, watching flag raising ceremonies or attending patriotic performances. Often called red tourism, this category combines travel with visits and events connected to China's revolutionary history.

The 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March formed part of the holiday's historical context. Yan'an in Shaanxi recorded an approximately 20% annual increase in visitor numbers on the first day, with revolutionary songs and a large bonfire gathering among the activities.

In Ruijin, Jiangxi, attractions received more than 950,000 visitors during the first six days. Queues at the Red Well, a site associated with the revolutionary period, stretched as far as 200 meters despite rain. A theater production about the Central Soviet Area gave visitors another way to engage with the city's history.

Live entertainment was another substantial part of the holiday market. China held 180 major performances, comprising 125 concerts and 55 music festivals. The Sichuan Museum extended its hours and introduced a themed night tour, while Beijing's Zhongshan Park hosted a market bringing together museums, cultural institutions and brands.

Bu Xiting, a researcher at the Communication University of China, described the change in what travelers sought from their time away:

It points to a fundamental shift in the logic of tourism consumption, as travelers focus more on the quality of time and the richness of their experiences,

Yuan You, an internet company employee, spent part of a 13 day vacation in Jiuzhaigou before taking woodworking classes in Chengdu. Her itinerary combined sightseeing with a practical activity rather than filling each day with additional attractions.

Nighttime spending and subsidies broaden the market

Nationally designated nighttime cultural and tourism consumption districts recorded 107 million nighttime visits, up 5.6% from a year earlier. The ministry cited evening performances, tours of traditional towns and light shows as attractions that extended activity beyond daytime sightseeing.

Chongqing's nighttime spending rose 5.4%. Local authorities reported 9.1 million visits to monitored rated attractions and 3.66 million overnight visitors. The overnight total included 23,579 inbound visitors, up 34.4% annually. Attraction visits and overnight visitors are separate measures and should not be added together.

The national consumption campaign distributed more than 310 million yuan in subsidies. Shanghai separately announced about 200 consumption events supported by roughly 100 million yuan in vouchers, covering areas including films, dining, digital products and cars. Its broader program should not automatically be treated as a component of the ministry's tourism subsidy total.

Sports also generated travel and local business. The ministry identified the Jiangsu Super League, Northeast Super League and Village BA basketball events as drivers of passenger transport, restaurant and accommodation activity. Its statement did not give a separate spending total attributable to these competitions.

Tax invoice data offered a wider view of service demand. Average daily sales in industries connected with service consumption rose almost 20% annually. Sightseeing and entertainment services increased about 24%, cultural and artistic services 21%, and sports services 29%. These categories cover different business activity from the tourism spending estimate, so their faster growth is not a direct contradiction.

Inbound tourism rises, but the measures differ

China received 2.983 million inbound tourist visits over the holiday, according to the culture and tourism ministry. On a comparable daily basis, the figure rose 19% against 2024 and 6.5% against 2025.

One report described a rounded 2.98 million total as rising 19% annually. That differs from the official statement, which assigns the 19% comparison to 2024, not 2025. The ministry's figures establish the distinction.

Separate border data recorded 682,000 entries by foreign nationals, up 5.4%, including 505,000 under visa waiver policies, up 9.2%. Those visa waiver entries represented about 74% of the foreign national entry total. They are not the same measure as the ministry's broader inbound tourist visits.

The National Immigration Administration also projected about 2.15 million passenger crossings a day during the holiday. That was an expectation for border crossing activity, not a confirmed count of foreign tourist arrivals.

International spending had already grown before Golden Week. The commerce ministry put spending by overseas visitors at 263.6 billion yuan during the first seven months of 2026, up 27.8% annually. That longer period provides context, but it does not establish how much inbound visitors spent during October 1 to 7.

Trip.com's cited source market ranking placed Russia first, with strong growth from the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands. Shanghai, Guangdong and Beijing remained prominent destinations, while Chongqing's growth showed interest extending beyond the principal gateways. Improvements to payment options, ticket booking and itinerary planning were also reported.

Overseas demand and selective spending complicate the picture

Chinese travelers also used the holiday calendar to go abroad. More than half of outbound flight bookings through Trip.com were for departures before October 1, and overseas trips averaged more than nine days. Bookings for foreign hotel stays of at least seven nights rose 123%, while itineraries covering multiple destinations increased 84%.

Dragon Trail International's August survey found 54% of respondents planned overseas holidays, compared with 35% a year earlier. These were intentions among survey respondents, not the share of all Chinese travelers who ultimately went abroad. Only 5% planned luxury hotels, while 33% chose accommodation in the middle price range.

Domestic hotels also showed price restraint. InnHome data cited by Jefferies put revenue per available room down 0.5% during October 1 to 5, with average daily room rates down about 2%. Revenue per available room combines room prices and occupancy, showing how much a hotel earns across its available rooms.

Cinema spending was weaker still. Maoyan recorded National Day box office revenue of 1.16 billion yuan, down 36.6% annually and the lowest for the holiday since 2014. Citigroup analysts pointed to a shortage of major releases and travelers choosing trips over cinema visits, indicating that sector specific factors also mattered.

Ailsa Liao, senior analyst at Forthright Securities, linked cautious spending to uncertainty about household finances:

The key constraint, in our view, is not a lack of desire to consume, but uncertainty over income and employment prospects,

Lizzi C. Lee, a fellow on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, similarly connected selective spending to housing losses, income and job expectations, and consumers seeking discounts. Guo-Chen Wang, an associate research fellow at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, placed more weight on households' ability to spend and questioned whether coupons could address that problem.

Technology expands experiences without proving higher spending

The ministry described digital exhibitions, virtual and augmented reality experiences, and AI tour companions as part of the holiday market. Virtual reality places users in a digital environment, while augmented reality adds digital information to their view of a real setting.

In Chengdu, robots performed dances inspired by the face changing art of local opera and recreated traditional sugar painting through digital technology. A humanoid robot on Chunxi Road greeted customers and recommended products as a store manager.

Meituan said searches for its AI concierge Xiaotuan rose 29% from the preceding period. Demand also increased for smart glasses and robots able to interact physically with their surroundings. These indicators show interest in new products and services, but do not establish how much additional tourism spending they generated.

The ministry also cited large scale data monitoring and AI dispatch systems as tools for maintaining safe, orderly operations. Its statement did not quantify their separate contribution to crowd management or visitor satisfaction.

The next test is whether holiday demand continues beyond the peak. The consumption campaign runs through October, while Spring Tour expects outbound demand to gain momentum in the fourth quarter and into 2027 after September visa applications more than doubled. That is a company forecast, not a confirmed outcome. The holiday figures do not yet show whether subsidies created lasting additional spending or whether falling expenditure per trip will reverse.

Key Points

• China recorded 826 million domestic tourist trips and 738.375 billion yuan in spending during October 1 to 7, 2026.
• Daily trips rose 6.3% and daily spending 4.3% against the longer 2025 holiday.
• Average domestic spending per trip fell 1.9% to 893.92 yuan, its lowest level since 2022.
• Longer journeys, smaller destinations, rural activities and live performances attracted demand.
• Inbound tourist visits reached 2.983 million, with daily arrivals up 6.5% against 2025.
• More than 310 million yuan in tourism consumption subsidies supported activity, while hotels and cinemas showed weaker spending trends.