Chinese travelers are taking longer holidays and going farther this autumn. Many are joining the seven-day National Day break, which starts on October 1, with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Together they can make a 13-day holiday. In an August survey by a marketing firm, 54 percent of people planned trips abroad. A year earlier, the figure was 35 percent.
Travel company Trip.com says bookings for hotel stays of at least seven nights rose 123 percent from last year's holiday. Long-distance tours to places such as Spain, Greece, and New Zealand sold out by mid-August, one travel agent said. However, analysts doubt that more trips will mean much more spending. During last year's holiday, average spending per trip fell to a three-year low of about 911 yuan. Travelers now look carefully for value. Only five percent of those surveyed planned to stay in luxury hotels.