Dragon Boat Festival sees tourism growth

Yellow Crane Tower, a historic landmark in Wuhan, Hubei province, remains a must-visit destination for travelers. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China's domestic tourism market maintained steady growth during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, driven by folk customs experiences, sports event tours and graduation trips, according to an industry report.

On Sunday, online travel platform LY.com released a report on travel consumption during the 2026 Dragon Boat Festival holiday, showing that short-distance suburban trips favored by family travelers and young people dominated the holiday travel market, while long-distance travel demand also delivered a solid performance.

According to the report, the popularity of hands-on traditional folk experiences related to the festival, including makingzongzi(sticky rice dumplings), rose more than 23 percent year-on-year. Tourists were shifting from sightseeing to participating in traditional cultural activities.

Guangdong province stood out as the most popular dragon boat watching destination nationwide with more than 100 races, driving a substantial surge in local hotel bookings. Sichuan and Hunan provinces ranked second and third respectively.

As the first holiday after the national college entrance examination in early June, Dragon Boat Festival offered an opportunity for many new graduates to travel with family or friends. Many scenic spots across the country offered preferential policies for these new high school graduates, including free admission to stimulate travel consumption.

The report revealed that travel reservations among people aged 16 to 20 surged 27 percent year-on-year during the holiday. This age group accounted for nearly half of all first-time airplane travelers during the holiday.

They favored mountain scenic spots including Huangshan Mountain, Wutai Mountain and Wuyi Mountain, boosting hotel bookings in surrounding areas. They also flocked to theme parks such as Shanghai Disney Resort, Universal Beijing Resort and Guangdong's Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom.

Summer getaway tourism also gained traction amid rising temperatures. The booking popularity of traditional summer resorts including Libo in Guizhou, Changbai Mountain in Jilin, and Chengde in Hebei, increased by over 20 percent year-on-year.

Some travelers took several days of annual leave to extend their holiday, embarking on long-haul travel to destinations including Xinjiang, Gansu and Qinghai. Orders for long-distance travel packages were mainly favored by young people aged 22 to 30 and travelers over 55.