Singapore – September 21, 2026 -- Seoul has emerged as the top overseas holiday destination worldwide for this year's Golden Week, recording a 91% year-on-year jump in international flight bookings, according to new data from Trip.com Group. Chinese travellers are combining Golden Week with the Mid-Autumn Festival into a 13-day break by taking three additional days off, with outbound departures expected to spike as early as September 25 and average trip lengths exceeding nine days.
Chinese Outbound Departures Shift Earlier to Avoid Holiday Rush
More than half of outbound flight bookings this season are for departures before the official holiday begins on October 1, with daily volume peaking on September 25 and 30. The shift comes as Mid-Autumn Festival lands the Friday before the October holidays, prompting travellers to front-load their trips.
Long-Haul and Multi-Destination Trips Surge as Travellers Venture Further
Bookings for hotel stays of seven nights or more have risen 123% year-on-year, with even faster growth recorded for stays in London and Paris. Long-haul flight bookings are set for double-digit year-on-year growth, concentrated on gateway cities across Europe, Australia and the United States. Multi-destination itineraries have jumped 84% year-on-year, with popular combinations including Singapore-Bali, Hong Kong-Sydney, and Amsterdam-Milan.
Nature Escapes and Island Getaways Drive Destination Choices
Searches for "scenic trips" and "nature getaways" are up 53% year-on-year, with domestic hotspots including Qingdao, Lhasa and Kashgar for flights, and Xiangxi, Zhangjiajie and Guilin for rail travel. Among outbound island destinations, flight bookings to Cebu and Phuket climbed 111% and 78% year-on-year respectively. Travellers aged 18 to 24 are showing the highest growth across age groups, with New Zealand emerging as a favourite: flight bookings to Queenstown rose 314% year-on-year and to Auckland 276%.
Seoul Tops Global Rankings as South Korea's Chuseok Boosts Regional Travel
Beyond Seoul's 91% surge, global flight bookings to Busan, Cheongju and Daegu are also showing triple-digit year-on-year growth. South Korea's Chuseok holiday, which overlaps with Mid-Autumn Festival this year, is fuelling cross-border travel: South Korean travellers extending their break by three days (September 19-27) have driven flight bookings to Fukuoka up 70% and to Shanghai up 68% year-on-year.
China's Inbound Tourism Strengthens Around Mid-Autumn Festival
Lesser-known Chinese cities such as Yanji, Dunhuang and Hailar are posting some of the fastest inbound flight booking increases, while Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou continue to draw strong visitor flows from Hong Kong SAR, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. The Mutianyu Great Wall ranks as one of the top-booked attractions among overseas visitors this Golden Week, accessible via Trip.com's free layover tour, Beijing Express, launched in December 2024. The Mutianyu route now accounts for more than half of all Beijing Express bookings.