During the National Day holiday, mobile communications big data platforms project that the overall number of travelers will rise by 5% on a daily average compared with the same period last year.
In 2026, people are clearly traveling farther, and long-distance trips are heating up. Where is everyone going this holiday? China Mobile's Wutong data analysis predicts that the extra-long holiday will drive long-distance travel. Domestically, the number of tourists traveling more than 1,000 kilometers is expected to increase by 9% year on year, while destinations favored for long trips such as Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan and Inner Mongolia are expected to see visitor numbers rise by more than 12% year on year. On social platforms, discussions around topics such as National Day travel, long-distance trips and autumn foliage tours have increased 38% from the previous week.
Li Guanzhou, deputy general manager of the Data Delivery Center at China Mobile's Digital Intelligence Business Unit, said that major online booking platforms saw peak usage before the holiday, and an analysis of mobile app usage nationwide found that the daily average active user scale for performance ticketing, transportation ticketing and travel apps rose 29%, 25% and 32% respectively compared with ordinary days.
Big data also analyzed offline consumption during the National Day holiday, projecting that foot traffic at key commercial districts nationwide will grow 4% from the same period in 2025, while the number of online platform payments is expected to rise 8% year on year. An hour-by-hour analysis of foot traffic trends in key commercial districts found that 18:00 to 20:00 is the peak period for each district. During the holiday, the number of shoppers in key commercial districts after 18:00 is expected to increase 16% from the same period in 2025. Among them, people under 40 are the main spending force, and commercial districts in Guangdong, Shanghai, Hunan and Chongqing show relatively high activity.
Mobile big data predicts travel and consumption during the National Day holiday
Where to go during the National Day holiday? Communications big data platforms used large models to focus on travel and consumption hotspots and combined AI agents to conduct analysis and forecasts. Mobile signaling, travel trajectories, platform bookings and other big data record ordinary people's food, clothing, housing and transportation information during the holiday. When this massive information is overlaid on a map, it produces a picture of travel and consumption during the National Day holiday.
October 2 to 5: Scenic spots will see peak visitor flows
Starting from September 25, light points representing travel began lighting up on the map one after another. Broken down by time, major scenic spots will welcome peak visitor flows from October 2 to 5. Within each day, 13:00 to 16:00 is the period when visitor flows are most concentrated.
Combining leave with consecutive holidays lengthens the window, increasing long-distance travel
The movement lines extending from the map directly reflect one change: people are going farther this holiday, and combining Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day leave into consecutive days off has lengthened the travel window. China Mobile's Wutong data, combined with AI intelligent analysis, found that long-distance travel of more than 500 kilometers increased 11% from the same period in 2025. On transportation routes such as Shanghai to Beijing, Chengdu to Xi'an, Shenzhen to Changsha and Beijing to Shenyang, personnel exchanges were active.
Long-distance travel boosts on-site consumption, with out-of-town car rentals favored
Long-distance travel directly drives on-site service consumption. In regions such as Inner Mongolia, Liaoning and Xinjiang, out-of-town car rentals became the choice for many people seeking in-depth travel, with the daily average active user scale of car rental apps rising 43% on average from the same period in 2025. Wherever travel extends, consumption vitality is released.
Autumn break for primary and secondary schools heats up family parent-child travel
In the overall picture of travel and consumption, family travel is a prominent part, and the autumn break for primary and secondary schools has spawned a large number of parent-child trips. The scale of tourists departing from Hangzhou increased 40% from 2025, with more than half of them being family trips.
Avoiding popular check-in spots and turning to distant places with fewer people and beautiful scenery
Not everyone rushes to popular check-in spots. By combining nationwide searches and destination reservation information, another group's travel choices can be seen. Places such as Arxan in Inner Mongolia, Daocheng in Sichuan, Yanbian in Jilin and Altay in Xinjiang, which are vast, sparsely populated and scenic, are favored by travelers pursuing a relaxed sense of travel.
Inbound tourism shifts from first-tier cities to distinctive small towns
The immersive interactive experience at red tourism sites has fueled inbound tourism. It is expected that at the Yan'an Revolutionary Memorial Site scenic area and the Zunyi Loushanguan scenic area, foreign tourists will account for as much as 6%. The growth rate of foreign tourists in Yibin in Sichuan, Anqing in Anhui, Zhangjiajie in Hunan and Ili in Xinjiang is expected to exceed 55%. Inbound tourism is shifting from first-tier cities to distinctive small towns.
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