A child poses for photos with a cartoon character during the opening ceremony of the 21st Ice and Snow Nadam Fair of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in Hailar District of Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Dec. 21, 2025. The nadam fair kicked off here on Sunday, attracting tourists from home and abroad. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

China's tourism market is continuing to heat up as the New Year holiday approaches. Data from multiple online travel agencies (OTAs) shows a sharp rise in holiday bookings and related searches, with overall reservations for flights, hotels and homestays posting solid growth. 

According to a customer service agent at Fliggy, as of December 19, the average spending per order during the New Year holiday was up 10 percent year-on-year, while the number of tourism products purchased per capita increased 9 percent. 

Outbound travel has maintained the momentum seen during the summer and National Day holidays in 2025, with bookings already far exceeding the total recorded during last year's New Year holiday, according to a statement sent from the company to the Global Times on Monday.

In terms of destination choices, the "two-way flow" between northern and southern China is particularly pronounced. Continuing the winter travel trends of ice-and-snow tourism and winter-sun getaways, southern travelers are heading north to enjoy snow-related activities, while northern residents are traveling south to experience warmer climates during the short break, said the statement. 

Meituan data shows that travel reservations for the New Year holidays surged nearly fivefold year-on-year. In terms of destinations, the most popular cities for train travel include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province, Harbin in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu Province.

With the continuous expansion of China's high-speed rail network, short-distance trips reachable within half a day have become increasingly common, according to Meituan. This trend is especially evident in major city clusters such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Chengdu-Chongqing region, where frequent intercity trains underpin a "four-hour high-speed rail travel circle."

On December 18, China launched island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port, with policy dividends quickly reaching the tourism market. According to Chinese OTA Qunar, on the first day of implementation, tourism searches for Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, ranked among the nation's top five destinations.

The upcoming 2026 New Year holiday will be the first short break following the launch of the special customs operations in Hainan, and market enthusiasm has already emerged. Qunar figures show that flight bookings to Sanya during the 2026 New Year holidays are up 51 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, Fliggy's monitoring data indicates that bookings for scenic spot tickets in Hainan have tripled, while chartered car tours surged fourfold, with Sanya, Haikou and Lingshui ranking among the province's top three destinations.

This surge in bookings highlights growing domestic consumption, which the government is seeking to further support. China's Ministry of Commerce said at a meeting on Saturday that it will step up efforts to boost consumption, expand the supply of high-quality goods and services, and further unleash the potential of services consumption.

These policies align with broader government plans to prioritize domestic demand and guide consumption growth. When interpreting the spirit of the 2025 Central Economic Work Conference, an official from the Office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs told the Xinhua News Agency on December 16 that expanding domestic demand will be the top priority next year, with consumption growth driven through structural adjustments and coordinated measures on both the supply and demand sides. 

Jia Jianqiang, founder and CEO of Beijing-based OTA 6renyou, told the Global Times on Monday it can be anticipated that tourism consumption will grow during the New Year holidays, together with the upcoming Spring Festival.  

"As a series of policies aimed at stabilizing growth and boosting consumption are rolled out and take effect—including measures to raise household incomes and improve supporting policies—market confidence is expected to gradually recover, bringing renewed momentum to consumption and the tourism market," said Jia.