Passenger trips through mainland China railways during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day Golden Week are projected to exceed 219 million, setting a historical record, while border ports adjacent to Hong Kong are expected to see a significant increase in traffic, boosted by festive events in the city.
Overall domestic travel is forecast to surge during the eight-day holiday, with an average of 295 million daily passenger trips anticipated, a 3.2 percent increase from the same period last year.
About 80 percent of these trips are expected to be made by private car.
Cities such as Shanghai, Chengdu, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Chongqing are expected to see tourism numbers surpass last year's levels.
China Railway announced it will operate about 13,000 passenger trains daily to manage the surge, with an average daily ridership of 18.25 million.
Additional overnight high-speed train services will be added during peak travel periods from September 29 to October 2 and October 7 to 9 on key routes, including those from Beijing and Shanghai toward southern destinations like Guangdong and Hong Kong.
The civil aviation sector is also preparing for a record influx, with an estimated 19.2 million air passengers, a 3.6 percent year-on-year increase.
The National Immigration Administration forecasts a daily average of over 2 million border crossings during the holiday, with cross-border traffic through land ports near Hong Kong and Macau anticipated to rise substantially, driven by large-scale events like fireworks displays and lantern festivals.
The Luohu and Futian ports in Shenzhen are expected to handle 220,000 and 200,000 passengers daily, respectively.
Meanwhile, on the first Saturday after Super Typhoon Ragasa moved away from Hong Kong, the city recorded 142,000 visitor arrivals from mainland China, the highest single-day tally for the month.
A two-week Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival, running until October 12, has kicked off at Wong Tai Sin Temple, featuring lantern installations and cultural activities, such as riddle guessing games, stargazing and Chinese music performances.
In Macau, hotel bookings for the first three days of the Golden Week are exceptionally high, with many casino resort hotels fully booked.
Casino Ponte 16’s operator Success Universe reported occupancy at 70 to 80 percent for its hotels and expressed confidence in reaching full capacity during the holidays. Morgan Stanley expects Macau’s visitor traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels, with gross gaming revenue likely to exceed market expectations.
