Multi-destination bookings jump 84% as travellers embrace experience-led journeys and AI-powered planning,
creating new growth opportunities for brands.
HONG KONG, SINGAPORE and SHANGHAI, Oct. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — China’s outbound travellers made 4.44 million mainland departures during Golden Week 2026, up 9.3% year on year, according to EternityX’s new Golden Week 2026 Chinese Outbound Travel Insights Report.
The headline number tells only half the story. Three days of annual leave bridged the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day into a 13-day travel window (25 September to 7 October), and travellers used the extra time to go further, stay longer and see more. The share of outbound package travellers taking trips of eight days or more rose to around 42%, up from around 29% in 2024.
“Golden Week 2026 signals a decisive shift: Chinese outbound travel is growing in value, not just volume. With departures up 9.3%, brands must focus on the longer, experience-led journeys shaping demand,” said Charlene Ree, Founder & CEO of EternityX.
“Brands must move beyond one-off destination campaigns. Build multi-stop experiences, win visibility through social and AI discovery, and simplify booking and payment. Success must be measured by conversions and traveller value, not campaign reach alone,” added Charlene.
With outbound travel near its all-time high, Golden Week 2026 is a clear signal for destinations and brands: the opportunity is shifting from capturing more visitors to capturing higher-value, more deliberate ones.
Outbound Travel Grew Steadily as Hong Kong and Macao Set Golden Week Records
- 4.44 million mainland outbound departures, up 9.3% year on year (1 to 7 October)
- 15.46 million border crossings in total, averaging 2.21 million a day (+6.7%), with a peak of 2.40 million on 4 October
- 1.41 million mainland visitors to Hong Kong (+9.4%), including a record 277,000 on the first day of the holiday, with hotels around 90% full
- 972,000 mainland visitors to Macao, with daily arrivals up 19.6% (139,000 a day versus 116,000 in 2025) and hotel occupancy at 91.3%
(Sources: National Immigration Administration; Xinhua, October 2026)
Official outbound growth was steady and single-digit. The bigger shift was in where Chinese travellers went and how they travelled.
Longer, Multi-Stop Trips Grew Several Times Faster Than Departures
While departures rose 9.3%, longer and more complex journeys grew several times faster:
- Multi-destination bookings rose 84%, with travellers visiting an average of 2.8 countries per multi-country trip.
- Pre-holiday bookings on long-haul routes of 8,000km or more climbed 30%, compared with around 4% for all outbound flights.
- More than half of outbound flights departed before 1 October, and peak-day domestic orders fell to 1.75 times the daily average (from 2.4 times in 2025), easing holiday price spikes.
(Sources: Trip.com Group; The Paper; Umetrip, October 2026)
Demand Shifted From Japan to Korea, Southeast Asia and Visa-Free Long-Haul Markets
Demand moved decisively from Japan towards Korea, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Southeast Asia:
- Korea was the top planned destination (20.1% of surveyed travellers), with Seoul flight bookings up 91%.
- Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bali featured across platform top-10 lists, while island destinations such as Cebu (+111%) and Phuket (+78%) surged.
- Japan dropped off most platform top-10 lists after ranking first in 2025, with Chinese arrivals down 56.7% from January to August 2026.
- Visa-free niches and Europe pulled long-haul demand: hotel bookings rose fivefold in Nevşehir, Türkiye, while bookings for Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Nepal and Finland doubled.
(Sources: Trip.com Group; Qunar; Dragon Trail International; Kyodo; JNTO, October 2026)
Experiences Overtook Sightseeing and Shopping as Travellers’ Priority
Chinese travellers overall are trading fast-paced sightseeing for slower, deeper journeys. Deep slow travel was the top stated preference (47.3%), and experience-led searches on Xiaohongshu for crafts, heritage and outdoor activities rose 48%, growing more than 1.6 times as fast as check-in searches.
(Sources: Xiaohongshu, 2026)
Spending followed the same path. On the first day of the holiday, overseas local-experience bookings rose 37% and airport transfers 43%. Shopping baskets, by contrast, continued to shrink, with spend per Chinese shopper at Lotte Duty Free in Korea down 19% for January to August, even as shopper numbers rose 74%.
(Sources: DT/Yicai survey; Xiaohongshu; Fliggy; Edaily, 2026)
AI Has Become the Travel Planner, While Social Platforms Still Spark the Trip
The Chinese travel decision journey is being rewritten. Social platforms spark the idea, AI assistants build the itinerary, and OTAs and mini-programs close the sale:
- 61.8% among Chinese travellers overall now use AI to plan itineraries, and 20.3% are already willing to book through AI.
- AI-guided flight and hotel bookings on one leading OTA assistant rose 110% month on month during Golden Week.
- More than 80% of Xiaohongshu’s 230 million-plus travel-interest users search for travel guides on the platform in 2025.
(Sources: DT/Yicai survey; Fliggy; Travel Daily, 2026)
Payment Platforms Have Become a Marketing Channel for Destinations
WeChat Pay data for 25 September to 5 October showed mini-programs driving cross-border spend, with duty-free mini-program transactions up 8.5 times, ferry tickets more than tripling and ride-hailing up more than 1.6 times. Europe accounted for 12 of the top 20 countries by transaction growth.
(Source: WeChat Pay, October 2026)
Destinations are already responding with payment-linked offers, such as wallet coupons and exchange-rate perks for Chinese travellers in Korea.
Outlook: 2026 Is Set to Be a Record Year, Making China a Must-Win Market for 2027
Mainland residents made 167.9 million outbound visits in 2025, up 15.1% on 2024. EternityX expects outbound growth of around 9–10% in 2026, adding roughly 15–17 million trips and taking the total to a record of around 183–184 million, surpassing the 2019 peak of 169 million.
(Sources: National Bureau of Statistics; EternityX estimate, October 2026)
“The volume is back. What has changed is the value of each trip. Chinese travellers are staying longer, travelling to more places and spending on experiences rather than shopping bags. Japan’s lost share is now in play for the rest of Asia Pacific, and visa-free access is opening new long-haul markets every year,” said Simon Zhong, Head of Insights & Product Innovation, EternityX.
“Brands and destinations need to go live six to eight weeks before the holiday, sell multi-stop, experience-led itineraries, and be visible where planning now happens, on Xiaohongshu, inside AI assistants and through payment mini-programs. Those that invest in visibility and easy booking now will be best placed to capture the next wave, starting with Spring Festival 2027,” Simon added.
Golden Week 2026 confirms that Chinese outbound travel is not slowing but maturing. With the 2027 Golden Week expected to offer a shorter window, the brands that win will be those that plan earlier, build itineraries rather than one-off offers, and optimise their content for both social and AI search.
Download the full report here.
About EternityX Marketing Technology
At EternityX, we equip brands and businesses to master the realm of Chinese audiences through the Power of Three—PilotX, NaviX, and MediaX. These cutting-edge, AI-powered solutions enable precision targeting, providing data-driven insights that allow companies to connect with profitable audiences in key markets and beyond.
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