Tourists ride camels at the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring Scenic Area in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, May 19, 2026. (Photo: Xinhua)

China’s railway system officially launched ticket sales for the 2026 Dragon Boat Festival travel rush on Thursday. Under the 15-day advance booking rule, passengers can now purchase tickets for rail services for June 18, marking the beginning of the 5‑day railway holiday travel window from June 18 to 22, China Media Group reported.

Driven by holiday travel demand, the tourism industry has seen a strong pre‑holiday boom, signaling a diversified, high‑quality consumption upgrade for the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival holidays.

Aviation data confirmed the booming travel momentum. As of Wednesday, domestic air ticket bookings for the Dragon Boat Festival exceeded 1.19 million, while inbound and outbound flight reservations surpassed 500,000, marking a year-on-year increase of 8 percent, data sent by flight travel platform Umetrip to the Global Times revealed on Thursday.

Visits to Hulunbuir and Wuhai in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has surged over 100 percent year-on-year. Traditional folk custom tours in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, have emerged as the popular travel themes, with air ticket bookings rising 10 percent year-on-year. 

Niche destinations including Mohe, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and Yueyang, Central China's Hunan Province, become popular among tourists thanks to their original ecological landscapes, local folk customs and distinctive culture. The flight bookings for the Dragon Boat Festival holidays have surged by over 200 percent year-on-year, according to Umetrip.

Data from major travel platforms also shows that domestic travel orders, inbound reservations, and cross‑border flight bookings have all risen, signaling a diversified, high‑quality consumption upgrade for the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival holidays.

According to a travel forecast sent by Trip.com Group to the Global Times, the domestic hotel and tourism market features a new pattern of stable popularity among top-tier cities and booming emerging niche destinations. 

While China’s first-tier cities remain mainstream choices thanks to their mature transport and service facilities, tourist flows are now spilling over to third-and fourth-tier cities and county-level destinations. The hotel booking growth rate in lower-tier cities has far outpaced that of big cities, making reverse travel a prominent holiday trend, according to Trip.com Group.

Holiday travel demand is increasingly driven by personalized and interest-driven experiences. Sports events, cultural performances, and outdoor activities have become major factors attracting tourists. 

The ongoing Su Super League soccer matches, held across four cities in East China’s Jiangsu Province, have spawned popular “sports plus tourism” packages. Meanwhile music concerts and cultural galas as well as outdoor activities such as stream trekking and fruit picking are favored by tourists

The 2026 Dragon Boat Festival holidays saw persistently strong consumer demand for travel, with public willingness to take trips remaining high. Equally important, supply-side innovation played a pivotal role in shaping the market, Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Instead of flocking to megacities, travelers increasingly turned to lesser‑known counties and eco‑friendly towns—destinations that have gained popularity by offering fresh, accessible, and less crowded alternatives. The shift was fueled by the integration of cultural, sports, and tourism activities. From football matches and music festivals to outdoor adventures, interest‑driven travel experiences have emerged as powerful new drivers of holiday consumption, Zhang said.