Meituan released its "2026 May Day Holiday Consumption Insights Report" on May 5, revealing that travel activity increased significantly during the holiday period. Driven by the combination of spring break and extended leave-taking, orders for trips over 300 kilometers accounted for 46% of total travel bookings. The top ten most popular destination cities were Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Nanjing.
During the holiday, inquiries to Meituan's AI assistant "Xiao Tuan" increased by 89% compared to the Spring Festival period, with an average message completion rate of 61%. User queries were most concentrated on outdoor, cultural, and experiential destinations. Data from Meituan showed that the top ten cities for homestay bookings during the May Day holiday were Kaifeng, Beihai, Datong, Dali, Yanbian, Rizhao, Jingdezhen, Jinzhou, Xishuangbanna, and Lijiang.
From a city-tier perspective, fifth-tier cities saw the fastest growth in visitor numbers. Over a quarter of users utilized the Meituan AI assistant "Xiao Tuan" to search for niche destinations. Xinjiang emerged as a standout destination during this year's May Day holiday. Benefiting from its vast natural landscapes and rich regional characteristics, overall cultural and tourism bookings in Xinjiang increased by 12% year-on-year, while cross-category consumption orders for "accommodation-plus" packages grew by 55%. Tourists expanded beyond Urumqi, with Ili and Bayingolin becoming major destinations; accommodations outside the autonomous region's capital accounted for 76% of orders.
Meituan data indicated that this year's top ten popular county-level destinations were Yiwu in Zhejiang, Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu, Yongjia in Zhejiang, Haining in Zhejiang, Yining in Xinjiang, Changshu in Jiangsu, Qufu in Shandong, Wenling in Zhejiang, Kuytun in Xinjiang, and Jiangyin in Jiangsu. Among these, search popularity for "Yiwu hotels" increased by 22% year-on-year, while "Haining hotels" saw a 17% rise.
This year, the Dianping "Must-Visit List" expanded to cover over 100 smaller cities for the first time. Overall traffic to the Must-Visit List during the May Day holiday increased by more than 130% compared to the pre-holiday period, with smaller cities being a primary source of this growth. Among the hundred smaller cities newly added to the 2026 "Must-Eat List," the proportion of users from other locations reached 70%, a significant increase from before the holiday.
The May Day holiday also saw a surge in interest-driven travel consumption, fueled by sports events such as the Chinese Super League and events like music festivals and concerts. Meituan data showed that group-buying orders related to music festivals grew by 75% during the period. Searches for "support makeup" increased by 375% year-on-year, while searches for "music festival inflatable sofas" rose by 70%.
Premium small-group tours also gained popularity. According to the Meituan report, orders for small-group tours in Xinjiang during the May Day holiday saw a total value increase of 20% year-on-year. Among these, daily total consumption for "Family Exclusive Group" tours surged by 555%. The consumption scale for small-group tour orders in the price ranges of 2,500-3,000 yuan and 3,500-4,000 yuan both saw growth rates exceeding 900% year-on-year, indicating a concentrated surge in demand for long-haul vacations driving mid-to-high-end price segments.
Meituan data also revealed that searches for "local specialty foods" increased by 86% year-on-year during the holiday, while searches for "local cuisine" rose by 56%. Traffic from non-local users on the Dianping "Must-Eat List" grew by nearly 250% compared to the pre-holiday period. Additionally, orders for scalp treatments and massages on Meituan increased by 15% compared to before the holiday, while orders for facial cleansing services rose by 10%.
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