During the Qingming holiday, the total cross-regional population flow exceeded 840 million trips, a 6% increase year-on-year. The spring break holiday has sparked a travel surge during Qingming, with cultural and tourism consumption moving towards quality and cultural experiences.

Securities Times reporter Tang Ying

As spring vacation policies in multiple regions have officially taken effect, the cultural tourism consumption market for the 2026 Qingming holiday has seen a surge in people traveling. Data released by the Ministry of Transport on April 6 shows that during the three-day Qingming holiday from April 4 to 6, the total cross-regional passenger movement across the country reached 8B person-times, averaging 845.38M person-times per day, up 6% year over year.

This year, spring vacation plans have been set up in various parts of the country for primary and middle school students. In places such as Sichuan and Jiangsu, spring vacation started on April 1, and the break was linked with the Qingming holiday, extending the original three-day vacation into a six-day long holiday. With an extended spring break, children can enjoy an “extended version of the holiday.” This breaks the previous limitation that the Qingming holiday could only be used for short trips, and the tourism market has entered the first major travel peak after this year’s Spring Festival.

The implementation of spring vacation has given rise to a large-scale group of travelers taking consecutive days off. On April 6, the “2026 Qingming Holiday Travel Express Brief” released by Fliggy showed that tourism consumption demand during the Qingming holiday was strong. The volume of bookings for travel services continued to rise on top of last year’s level, with domestic hotel bookings increasing by about 40%. “Post-90s” and “Post-85s” parent-child families have become the main force behind travel, driving demand for high-quality tourism services. The average spending per tourism service customer has risen somewhat compared with last year.

Many destinations have also rolled out benefits such as free admission to scenic spots and free transportation, giving children a more enjoyable and comfortable time. For example, Nanjing and Suzhou have launched activities offering free rides with a student ID. Scenic areas such as Huangshan, Nanjing Dah Baoen Temple, Wolong Chinese Giant Panda House, and Mount Qingcheng have successively announced ticket discount or exemption offers for primary and middle school students. As a result of this series of measures, the number of travel bookings in the relevant destinations has increased noticeably compared with previous years. Taking Jiangsu as an example, the province’s tourism booking volume increased by nearly 40% year over year. Cities including Suqian, Nantong, Yancheng, and Xuzhou saw tourism booking growth rates of more than 50% year over year.

At the same time, in-depth study and experiential learning has become a choice for more families. Niu Niu (Tuniu) released the “2026 Qingming Holiday Travel Consumption Roundup,” which shows that during the spring vacation period, the number of parent-child trips increased by more than 2 times compared with the same period last year. Natural experiences, study tours, and theme parks have become the top choices for parent-child families.

With ample time off, long-distance travel has become the norm. Platform data shows that booking heat for flights on routes above 800 kilometers rose by 80% month-to-month. Long-distance destinations that were previously constrained by the holiday schedule—such as Dali, Tengchong, and Xishuangbanna—have seen higher popularity.

In terms of travel mode, self-driving trips and independent travel have become mainstream. Platform data shows that among people taking consecutive days off, the proportions of trips by self-driving and independent travel were 40% and 37%, respectively. The car-rental market has seen a surge: inquiries grew 170% year over year, and long-rental orders for more than three days grew by more than 65% year over year. SUV models are particularly favored because they fit family travel needs.

It is worth noting that, affected by the overlap between the Qingming holiday and overseas Easter holiday schedules, cross-border two-way travel has become a prominent feature, creating multiple waves of consumption: Hong Kong residents traveling north, mainland residents traveling to Hong Kong, and international inbound travelers. Ctrip data shows that booking heat for flights from Hong Kong to the mainland surged by nearly 4 times year over year. Hotel booking heat increased by 8 times year over year. The focus of consumption has shifted from shopping to cultural exploration and in-depth experiences. Shanghai, Beijing, Sanya, and other places have become popular choices for long-distance travel. Meanwhile, travel interest from mainland residents to Hong Kong has also heated up in parallel, with high-quality hotel booking heat up by nearly 30% year over year. Cultural landmarks in Hong Kong, such as the Palace Museum Cultural Museum, have become new check-in favorites.

In addition, the scale of international inbound travel has grown significantly. Ctrip data shows that during the Qingming holiday, the total number of orders related to inbound travel increased by more than 70% year over year. Young groups from countries and regions such as Thailand, Singapore, and Europe and the United States have become the main force. Popular choices among these young groups include experiencing the aesthetics of Jiangnan gardens, learning Chinese kung fu or calligraphy, and studying Chinese tea culture and tea-making techniques, which are driving inbound travel to upgrade from “scenery consumption” to “cultural consumption.”