The tourism market is expecting an upsurge in the upcoming National Day holiday, according to National Day and Mid-Autumn Holiday Travel Forecast Report released on Thursday by the Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport.
During the National Day, China's toll roads will offer toll-free travel for small passenger cars, and the traffic volume of China's highways will remain high.
China will see increasing traffic volume on expressways starting from September 30. At around 10 am on October 1st, China will see the largest outbound traffic volume with the Pearl River Delta expected to see congested roads.
The peak of the return trip is expected for October 5 after four in the afternoon. Road congestion will be seen in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.
China is gearing up for a surge in domestic tourist trips as the COVID-19 epidemic has been mostly subdued, with high-speed train tickets to many destinations already gone for the first day of the National Day holiday on Oct 1.
The robust travel demand is fueled by this year's longer holiday as the Mid-Autumn Festival, which also falls on Oct 1, will overlap with the weeklong National Day holiday, giving people an extended holiday of eight days until Oct 8.
The country's civil aviation sector has also braced for the increase in visitors. Haikou Meilan International Airport in the capital of Hainan province, for example, will add and resume more than 1,500 flights to meet the demand of the travel peak for the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays.
The travel increases during the holiday, which tourism insiders said will be the peak tourism period this year, may also help lift the tourism sector that has been hit hard by disruptions from COVID-19.
