Caixin Global News on September 30th (Reporter Hu Haoqiong): The National Day holiday is about to begin, and the peak of National Day travel has arrived. In terms of travel prices, several travel agencies have mentioned that this year's National Day holiday travel prices have noticeably loosened, with some agencies stating that outbound travel prices have decreased by 20-30%. Regarding airfare, Ctrip platform indicates that as of now, prices for domestic and international flights departing during the National Day period have also decreased by about 20% YoY.

Tourist prices are loosening up, and long-haul outbound tours are popular.

"Apart from short-haul visa-free destinations and domestic products that are still attracting customers, all other destination products have been fully booked. We have also noticed that many tourists only started planning close to the holiday period, mainly considering visa-free island countries and domestic travel." Li Mengran, Media Relations Manager at UTOUR Group (002707.SZ), told Caixin Global News reporters.

From the booking situation at Spring Airlines, the number of bookings for certain outbound destinations has exceeded the same period last year. Currently, popular long-haul destinations for the National Day holiday include Eastern Europe and the Balkans, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, among others. Compared to previous years, this National Day holiday's long-haul travel products mostly involve multi-country tours around the 12-day mark, with a noticeable increase in demand for deep travel experiences in one or two countries.

Under Guangzhou Lingnan Group Holdings (000524.SZ), the Guangzhilv division had a total of nearly 200 outbound tour groups departing from September 27th to 30th before the festival, with around 60% consisting of long-haul tours lasting 8-13 days. The destinations cover Egypt, the UK and Ireland, three countries in the Caucasus, the German-Austrian-Swiss region, Russia, Turkey, four countries in Eastern Europe, five countries in Northern Europe, the East Coast of the USA, Thailand-Singapore-Malaysia, as well as Laos.

In terms of prices, Spring Airlines also mentioned that unlike previous holidays, this year's National Day holiday travel prices have significantly loosened, with increased discounts – such as Spring Airlines offering deductions starting at 100 RMB for popular National Day vacation packages; Spring Airlines (601021.SH) has introduced ticket purchase discounts on its app and mini programs, including 30 RMB off for Green Wing club members on their first order, and a chance for a direct discount of 100 RMB on international round-trip flight bookings.

Guangzhilv's customer booking data indicates that the overall prices for outbound travel during the 2024 National Day holiday have decreased by 20-30% YoY.

In terms of air ticket prices, data provided by Qunar platform to Caijing journalists shows that as of now, the prices of domestic and international air tickets departing during the National Day period have also decreased by about 20% year-on-year.

It is worth mentioning that this year, in terms of travel agencies, the sale of National Day cruise travel products is still hot. Zhou Weihong, Deputy General Manager of Spring Tour, told Caijing journalists that on October 1st, nearly a hundred tourists will board the "I Love Magic Shanghai" for a 7-day 6-night National Day themed voyage, with the main customer group being middle-aged and elderly people. UTour Group mentioned that the Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas Japan route departing from Shanghai Port during the National Day holiday is selling very well. Some products departing on the National Day have started signing up half a year in advance.

Looking at the overall situation of the National Day voyage of the domestic large cruise ship 'I Love Magic Shanghai', Caijing journalists learned that its National Day voyage will set sail with over 5,000 passengers, and welcome its 250,000th passenger.

"Currently, the overall operation of the 'I Love Magic Shanghai' is very smooth, with a satisfaction rate of over 95%, exceeding our expectations. Other cruise companies usually take a year and a half to operate new ships (to be profitable), but the 'I Love Magic Shanghai' has actually started making a profit from the second month of operation." Yang Guobing, Chairman of China Merchants Cruise and Ida Cruise, revealed in a previous media interview that due to the popularity of Henan opera performances especially among Chinese and tourists in Southeast Asia, such as the well-known characters Guan Gong and Mu Guiying, the 'I Love Magic Shanghai' also plans to introduce Henan opera culture on its autumn and winter routes.

Peak travel season has arrived, with some flight routes already sold out in advance.

Looking at the National Day travel trends, the outbound journeys during the "Eleventh National Day" are relatively scattered, while the return journeys will be more concentrated.

Caijing journalists learned from the Shanghai Railway Station that the station is expected to send 0.596 million passengers today, an increase of about 0.1 million passengers from yesterday, with over 200,000 more passengers than usual. The peak day for outbound passengers is expected to be on October 1st, with an estimated 0.63 million passengers to be sent that day. The station is expected to welcome the peak of return passenger flow on October 7th.

In the civil aviation market, data from Hanglvzhongying shows that the trend of passenger travel during the National Day holiday will also present a "high at both ends, low in the middle" trend. The two days before the holiday will see a peak in travel, with an estimated daily passenger volume of around 2.25 million. This will be followed by a slight decline and stabilization, with the peak expected to occur on October 6th, when the daily passenger volume is expected to exceed 2.3 million. The total national civil aviation passenger volume is expected to exceed 15.65 million, with a daily passenger transportation volume of 2.23 million, a 7% increase from the National Day holiday in 2023, and a 19% increase compared to the same period in 2019.

Airlines are still continuously increasing their flights. China Eastern Airlines (600115.SH) plans to operate over 214,000 flights during the holiday period, a 5% year-on-year increase; with an average of 3,057 flights per day, reaching a historical high for the same period. As of September 27th, ticket booking rates for multiple routes to popular tourist destinations such as Shanghai, Beijing, Kunming, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu, Qingdao, Taiyuan, Changchun, and Hohhot have exceeded 70%. The ticket booking volume for multiple international routes has exceeded that of the same period in 23 years.

China Southern Airlines (600029.SH) has seen high demand for flights from Shanghai to domestic popular destinations such as Haikou and Guangzhou starting from September 28th. On the first day of the holiday, some flights from Shanghai to Guiyang, Jieyang, Dalian, and Xi'an have been sold out in advance. China Southern Airlines Group plans to increase the number of flights by more than 3,000 around the National Day holiday.

Hainan Airlines Holding (600221.SH) announced that Hainan Airlines plans to operate over 5,630 flights, transporting a total of over 0.92 million passengers, with more than 990 wide-body aircraft flights. For domestic flights, they plan to operate 754 flights per day, aiming to provide a daily average of 144,000 seats; for international flights, they plan to operate 352 international flights, a 50% year-on-year increase, aiming to provide approximately 82,000 seats.