Hong Kong emerged as the third largest destination for Chinese outbound travelers during the National Day holiday, climbing up from sixth place last year.
Ctrip, the largest online travel agency in China, attributes the increase in visitors to the opening of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail on September 23, and ticket prices being lower than air fares.
Their statistics show that there was a increase in travelers from Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Jiangsu. Most were overnight visitors who helped boost sales of the travel and catering industry in Hong Kong.
Thailand was the most favorite destination for Chinese, while Japan ranked the second. Five airports in Thailand had opened new VIP lanes and offer visas on arrival for Chinese tourists.
According to the China Tourism Academy, during this year's seven-day holiday, 726 million traveled throughout China, a year-on-year increase of 9.43 percent. Domestic tourism revenue reached 599.08 billion yuan (HK$678.34 billion), a year-on-year increase of 9.04 percent.
Meanwhile, those born during the 1980s and 1990s, who made up 25 and 22 percent of the total, were the largest segment of travelers. Ctrip data show that 52 percent opted for short trips lasting no more than three days.
Chinese lodging service company Tujia.com saw 5.5 times more bookings in this National Day holiday compared with 2017.
In terms of spending power, travelers from first-tier cities, such as Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai, spent the most, with an average per person of more than 3,000 yuan, while second-, third- and fourth-tier cities, such as Nanjing, Xiamen, and Guangzhou, the average spending per person was more than 2,500 yuan.
Interestingly, more and more Chinese travelers are heading to lesser-known destinations and seeking local experience, or special travel activities.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia were once dark horse regions. But, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Serbia and Uzbekistan are starting to appear on Chinese travelers' radar.
Travel searches for Croatia increased by 142 percent year-on-year due to the World Cup fever, while easing of visas prompted great interest in Rabat in Morocco, and Minsk in Belarus.
Chinese engaged in 35 types of tour activities during the holiday, with the top six favorites being skydiving, hot-air balloon rides, scuba diving, helicopter rides, cooking classes, and off-road racing, according to data from Ctrip's "Things to Do" list.
Meanwhile, indoor skydiving in Singapore, scuba diving in Nha Trang, cooking lessons in Chiang Mai and Abu Dhabi Formula One became novel experiences for a large number of Chinese travelers during the holiday.
In terms of domestic travel, online social media has created a new list of hot domestic travel destinations: Ejin Banner and Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia, Xigaze in Tibet and Dunhuang in Gansu all became popular this year.
Ctrip predicts that third- and fourth-tier cities in China will become domestic hotspots for travelers as China's high-speed railway network will cover more than 80 percent of major cities by 2020.
The top five third- and fourth-tier Chinese cities for travel were Yinchuan, Nantong, Dunhuang, Jiujiang, and Xiangyang.
