China National Day Golden Week 2019 Preview

Executive Summary

To celebrate China’s National Day and encourage Chinese people to travel and spend, China has a seven-day golden week holiday every year, from October 1 (National Day) to October 7. Chinese tourists travel heavily during golden week, which in turn boosts both domestic and global retail sales. According to some of China’s leading travel agencies, including Ctrip, Lvmama and Ecwalk, during this year’s National Day holidays:

• Over 800 million Chinese citizens will travel, over 60% of whom will go overseas. Over 40% of people take more than seven days by adding annual leave or other methods.
• Tourists are mostly people born 1980-1989, accounting for 31% of the travelling population, while those born 1990-1999 will account for 22%. Some 28% will travel with children.
• The top three destinations are Japan, Thailand and Italy. Hong Kong is expected to lose a great number of tourists due to the recent protests.
• Travelling costs will be higher than non-holiday seasons: Potentially twice as much as usual. That said, competition for popular destinations may drive down costs to those locations.