As this year's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays scheduled from Oct 1 to 8 draw near, domestic flight searches have surged by over 30 percent, while international flight searches have increased by more than 60 percent year on year, according to data from online travel platforms.

Since September, travel-related search volumes for the upcoming holidays have risen significantly compared with the same period in 2024.
In the past week alone, searches for domestic flights during the holiday period grew by more than 30 percent year on year.
Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai were among the most-searched destinations, while lesser-known cities such as Yining, Luzhou, and Hailar saw the highest growth in search, exceeding 60 percent.
"The average price of domestic air tickets during this year's National Day holiday is generally consistent with the same period last year, both showing a pattern of 'higher prices at the beginning and lower prices in the middle'. Ticket prices tend to be relatively higher at the start and end of the holiday, while fares are lower in the middle. Driven by the strategy of extending holiday by taking extra days off, October 4 to 5 are expected to witness a peak in domestic air travel," said Qian Meifeng, deputy manager of a travel agency.
In addition, as the demands for both family visits and leisure trips are surging during the holiday, popular heritage tourism sites of the Communist Party of China (CPC), northern mountain resorts adorned with autumn scenery, and ancient towns in southern China offering day and night activities have all experienced a significant rise in popularity.
Search for CPC heritage tourism has increased by over 200 percent year on year, while keywords such as "sightseeing" and "moon viewing" rose by 117 percent. Mountain and ancient town attractions also saw an 80 percent week-on-week growth in search.
Meanwhile, international travel is showing robust crescendo.
Hotel bookings in popular overseas destinations have doubled year on year, with Chinese travelers booking flights to 690 cities worldwide.
Seventy-nine new destination cities were added this year, including Murmansk in Russia, Buffalo in the United States, and Nuremberg in Germany.
Benefiting from visa-free policies, flight bookings to Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states rose sharply, with ticket sales to Uzbekistan increasing by 3.3 times and to Kazakhstan by 2.3 times.
"Currently, Almaty in Kazakhstan has launched direct flights to and from multiple Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Urumqi, with direct flight prices ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 yuan (around 140.48 to 280.95 U.S. dollars). European countries like Spain, which offer visa facilitation and high cost-effectiveness, are also becoming increasingly popular among Chinese tourists during the holidays. Travelers with sufficient time can opt for transfer flights. For instance, during the National Day period, the price of a transfer flight from Beijing to Barcelona is half that of a direct flight," said Shi Ke, researcher of Qunar Big Data Research Institute.
Furthermore, as international flight capacity from non-first-tier Chinese cities continues to improve, cities including Datong, Yiwu, Xuzhou, and Urumqi have become some of the fastest-growing places for outbound travel during the holiday.
On the inbound side, many international tourists are also choosing to visit China during the National Day period to experience the festive atmosphere.
The numbers of visitors from countries such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Spain, Canada, and the United Kingdom have grown most significantly.