TONGCHENGTRAVEL (00780): "Off-season rush" before peak summer season, Dragon Boat Festival holiday travelers release long-term demand early

As the drumbeat of dragon boat racing fell, the last small long weekend of the first half of 2026 officially came to an end. On June 21st, TONGCHENGTRAVEL (00780) released the "2026 Dragon Boat Festival Travel Consumption Report", showing that this year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday, "Folk Travel", "Event Travel", and "Graduation Travel" themes were all actively pursued, and the overall domestic tourism market remained stable with a slight increase. Family trips with children and short vacations for young white-collar workers remained the mainstream, with bookings for short trips in regions such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei increasing by over 30% compared to the same period last year. Long-distance travel demand also showed promise, with the proportion of inter-provincial travel orders during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday increasing by about 5 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Driven by both traditional folk customs and emerging consumer demands, this year's Dragon Boat Festival presented an interesting scene of "returning to rituals" and "relaxing itineraries" - dragon boat racing moved from water towns to urban CBDs, and "new Chinese-style" experiences such as mugwort bouquets and handmade sachets integrated traditional festival flavors into daily travel. At the same time, traveling for events has become a norm, with a series of dragon boat races and cultural events leading the surge in travel heat at the upcoming summer peak season. Father's Day coinciding with dragon boat races, "Uncle Brigade" crossing provinces to watch races becomes a passionate force during Dragon Boat Festival As a traditional festival with a thousand years of history, the dragon boat race, known for its scene of "thousands of sails racing and a hundred boats competing", has always been the well-deserved "highlight" of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that Guangdong province, with hundreds of dragon boat activities, ranked first in the hot destination list for Dragon Boat Festival dragon boat viewing in 2026, driving hotel bookings in Guangdong to the forefront nationwide. Among them, hotel bookings near the event venues saw a year-on-year increase of 36%. Sichuan and Hunan provinces followed closely, ranking second and third as popular destinations for dragon boat viewing during the Dragon Boat Festival. In terms of cities, Bazhong, Meishan, Miluo, and Shaoyang stood out, with local hotel bookings and scenic tickets seeing a 28% increase year-on-year. This Dragon Boat Festival coincides with Father's Day, making "taking Dad to watch a real dragon boat race" a new way for many children to express their affection, leading to the emergence of a new group of travelers - the "Uncle Brigade" watching dragon boat races. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival, travelers booking and traveling for dragon boat viewing products, users aged 45 and older accounted for 47%, an increase of 6 percentage points compared to the same period last year. These "Uncle Brigade" groups invite relatives and friends to visit traditional dragon boat strongholds such as Foshan in Guangdong and Miluo in Hunan, to experience the atmosphere of flag-snatching in person, leading to a 56% year-on-year increase in cross-provincial viewing trips on the platform. In terms of consumption characteristics, the "Uncle Brigade" shows a clear tendency towards high quality. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that high-quality hotel bookings in the core areas of dragon boat racing increased by over 20% compared to the same period last year. In addition, the trend of linking dragon boat viewing with surrounding attractions is evident among the "Uncle Brigade", with significant growth in ticket bookings for cultural scenic spots such as Qu Yuan's hometown in Yichang and Quzi Cultural Park in Yueyang among the older male population. The logic of "traveling with events" during the Dragon Boat Festival is not limited to dragon boat races. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that football leagues such as "Northeast Super" and "Suzhou Super" reach crucial points during the Dragon Boat Festival, with air tickets, hotel bookings, and other travel products in home cities such as Dalian, Yanbian, Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Suzhou showing more pronounced growth compared to other cities in the province. In addition, during the Dragon Boat Festival, large concerts were held in cities such as Chengdu, Nanjing, and Hefei, with hotel bookings near concert venues seeing a year-on-year increase of over 35%. Graduation trips are timely, and county-level high school graduates' "in-depth provincial tours" are increasing As the first statutory holiday after the 2026 college entrance examination, the Dragon Boat Festival becomes the starting point of the adult journey for millions of graduates. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, travel product bookings for users aged 16-20 increased by 27%, with nearly half of the first-time users of flight tickets in the 16-20 age group, a growth of over 10 percentage points compared to the same period last year. In terms of the types of attractions, graduates prefer natural mountain and river scenic areas such as Huangshan, Wutai Mountain, Mount Tai, Mount Emei, and Wuyi Mountain, driving up hotel bookings around scenic areas, with a prominent proportion of 16-20 age group users choosing twin bed rooms. Many graduates also flocked to theme parks such as Shanghai Disneyland, Beijing Universal Studios, and Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean's King Lighting Science & Technology Kingdom. Under the trend of traveling in groups, tickets for three-person and two-person packages in the theme parks were popular. It is worth mentioning that hundreds of scenic spots across the country offered free or discounted tickets to high school students during the Dragon Boat Festival, with places like Lingshan in Wuxi, Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, and Yinxu Museum in Anyang remaining popular during the holiday, with related guides services being well received by graduates on the platform. County-level high school graduates' enthusiasm for cultural and tourism consumption is also high, starting their graduation journeys from their hometowns with an "in-depth provincial tour". TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival this year, the proportion of county-level high school graduates choosing "in-depth provincial tours" increased by nearly 8 percentage points compared to the same period last year, with popular destinations including Kaifeng, Wuhan, Qingdao, Chengdu, Qinhuangdao, Yueyang, Wuyuan, Shantou, Chizhou, and Anyang. They do not pursue "visiting many attractions", but choose to explore within a 2-4 hour radius in their respective provinces. Graduates from Zhengyang County in Zhumadian interact with NPCs at Wansui Mountain Wuxia City in Kaifeng, while graduates from Pingyi County in Linyi visit Qingdao to listen to the waves by the sea. This strong sense of provincial travel allows graduates to experience a "journey to the distance" at a lower cost. Interwoven with the "pre-exam relaxation" for parents and the "self-indulgence recharge" for young people, small-town trips during the Dragon Boat Festival are popular Due to the Dragon Boat Festival falling near the end of the semester exams for primary and secondary schools, many parents choose to take short trips with their children to nearby destinations, allowing them to relax and unwind without taking up too much time. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival, the decision-making cycle for family travel products for parents and children shortened by 2.5 days compared to the same period last year, showing a clear "spontaneous" travel characteristic. These parents focus on a "worry-free trip", driving up the booking heat for high-quality family vacation hotels on the platform by 48% year-on-year. In addition, hotels and homestays labeled with "children's playgrounds" and "swimming pools" are also popular among families with children, with an 8 percentage point increase in related bookings compared to last year. In terms of destination types, the popular destinations for family trips in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei regions, including Taohu Long Dream Park, Anji Fantasy Joyland, Changzhou China Dinosaur Park, and Tianjin Fantawild Adventure World, saw a rapid increase in bookings. Young people's theme for the Dragon Boat Festival is "recharge" and "self-indulgence". TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival this year, young people sought to escape the hustle and bustle of the city by heading to hidden gems like Hanzhong in Shaanxi, Huzhou in Zhejiang, Yixing in Jiangsu, Jiangmen in Guangdong, Xingtai in Hebei, and Benxi in Liaoning, with hotel bookings and scenic tickets seeing even more activity than in some first-tier cities. With the weather getting hotter, trips for cooling off and summer vacationing started early during the Dragon Boat Festival. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that traditional summer destinations like Libo in Guizhou, Changbai Mountain Tourism in Jilin, Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia, and Chengde in Hebei saw a year-on-year increase in travel product bookings of over 20% during the Dragon Boat Festival. Among them, Guizhou, known for its "summer capital" branding, saw a significant increase in the proportion of out-of-town visitors during the Dragon Boat Festival compared to the same period last year. Intangible cultural heritage and folk customs have become the "traffic passwords" of the Dragon Boat Festival, with the "reverse taste testing tour" of northern and southern zongzi becoming popular This year's Dragon Boat Festival saw traditional folk activities such as zongzi making and making sachets become a major "traffic password" for the tourism market. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival, the booking heat for products that offer deep experiences such as zongzi making, sachet making, colorful rope weaving, and artemisia bouquet making increased by over 23%. Intangible heritage experiences are shifting from "seeing" to "doing", from "observing" to "participating", which is not only a reflection of the deepening of tourism products but also a signal of the upgrading of cultural consumption. At the same time, cities with rich cultural heritage have stood out during the Dragon Boat Festival. Regions like Xinzhou in Shanxi, Yichang in Hubei, Wuxi in Jiangsu, Dongying in Shandong, Ziyang in Sichuan, Jiujiang in Jiangxi, and Weinan in Shaanxi have made it onto the top 10 list of Dragon Boat Festival intangible heritage and folk customs destinations due to their rich and colorful activities during the festival. It is noteworthy that this year's Dragon Boat Festival saw the rise of the "travel with zongzi" food-themed tours. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival, destinations such as Beijing (Jiang Mixiaojiao zong), Jiaxing in Zhejiang (egg yolk meat zong), Jinzhong in Shanxi (Jinbei specialty zong), Zhaoqing in Guangdong (wrapped steamed zong), Luzhou in Sichuan (cured meat zong), and Xuanwei in Yunnan (ham zong) saw the highest increase in popularity. In terms of origin of travelers, this year's zongzi food-themed tours saw a "reverse taste testing" movement where tourists from the north and south explored zongzi from different regions, such as visitors from Jiangsu and Zhejiang traveling to the north to taste sweet zongzi, while visitors from the north traveled to Yunnan and Sichuan to taste savory zongzi. This "reverse taste testing tour" breaks the stereotype of "northerners eat sweet zongzi, southerners eat savory zongzi" and turns the humble zongzi into an excellent carrier of Dragon Boat culture dissemination. Before the peak season of summer, the "golden window period" of the Dragon Boat Festival, although only a three-day holiday, some travelers have used the method of combining holidays to "run ahead", releasing the demand for long-distance trips and outbound trips to destinations. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that this year, the proportion of "taking 4 days off for 9 days" long-distance travel product orders during the Dragon Boat Festival increased by about 6 percentage points compared to the same period last year, with young people aged 22-30 and the silver-haired generation aged 55 and above being the main client groups. In addition, travel product bookings for destinations in the Northwest such as Xinjiang, Gansu, and Qinghai increased by 15%, and bookings for destinations in the Southwest such as Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou increased by 12%. Furthermore, northeastern destinations like Liaoning and Jilin attracted many long-distance travelers with their cool summer vacation advantages. Regarding outbound travel, short-haul trips remained the main focus for travelers during the Dragon Boat Festival. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that destinations like Jeju Island and Seoul in South Korea, Phuket and Bangkok in Thailand, and Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia were popular choices for holidaymakers. In terms of the source of travelers, non-first-tier cities saw a significant increase in outbound tourists, with cities like Hangzhou, Chengdu, Qingdao, Shenyang, Nanjing, and Xiamen making it to the top 10 list of popular outbound travel cities during the 2026 Dragon Boat Festival. TONGCHENG Research Institute analysis believes that during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday in 2026, the travel preferences and consumption rhythms of main customer groups such as family travelers, graduates, and young people combining holidays present distinct differences, posing higher requirements for destination product differentiation. At the same time, the consumption form of "festive feel" is shifting from taking photos to engaging in activities such as handcrafting and watching events, indicating a shift from the concept of cultural tourism integration to concrete product implementation. The increase in cross-provincial and long-distance group tour bookings during the Dragon Boat Festival also reflects the diffusion of long-distance travel demand and the willingness to consume high-quality products in multiple-tier cities, providing a positive reference for the overall performance of the summer market.