(Yicai) Sept. 17 -- China’s upcoming “super-long holiday,” combining the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, is spurring a surge in travel bookings, with Japan, Thailand, and South Korea among the most popular outbound destinations.

Travel platforms reported that bookings for flights, hotels, attraction tickets, car rentals, and package tours have already exceeded levels from 2024 and 2023. Last year, the two holidays were nearly two weeks apart, while in 2023 they were merged into an eight-day break.

This year, workers will enjoy eight consecutive days off, with the option to extend the holiday to as many as 12 days by taking three days of leave, either from Sept. 27 to Oct. 8 or from Oct. 1 to Oct. 12. Surveys show that over one-third of employees plan to extend their break to 12 days. Tongcheng Travel forecasts two peak railway travel periods: Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 and Oct. 7 to 8.

According to Qunar, more than 60 percent of consumers intend to travel domestically across provinces, while nearly 30 percent plan to travel abroad. International hotel bookings made through Qunar span more than 2,850 cities, with the top 10 countries being Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, Singapore, and Italy.

Egypt, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan are the fastest-growing international hotel booking destinations, followed by Cambodia, Sweden, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Norway, Russia, and Italy, Qunar said.

Trip.Com, which owns Qunar and Skyscanner, predicted Russia will emerge as one of the most popular long-haul destinations this Golden Week. Demand is being fueled by the China-Russia mutual visa exemption policy.

Searches for Moscow quadrupled week-on-week and rose nearly fivefold from a year earlier, with bookings up 80 percent year-on-year. Searches for St. Petersburg, a cultural hub, jumped around four times both week-on-week and year-on-year.

Editor: Emmi Laine