The number of post-holiday trips increased this year, as a growing number of travelers prioritized lower prices, thinner crowds and milder weather after the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday ended.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said domestic trips reached 888 million during the recent extended holiday from Oct 1 to 8, with spending totaling 809 billion yuan ($113.8 billion), both higher than last year's seven-day National Day holiday.

When the travel frenzy faded, the market flipped quickly. Data from the country's major online travel agencies show that average airfares have fallen by nearly 30 percent, and five-star hotels, earlier priced at more than 1,000 yuan a night, are now available for under 400 yuan, back to preholiday levels.

"I gave up visiting Changbai Mountain during the holiday as even budget hotels were 800 yuan a night," wrote one user on the social platform Xiaohongshu, or RedNote. "Now it's 180, the crowds are gone, and it finally feels like a vacation."

A Meituan Travel report showed that early post-holiday travelers fall into two groups: young workers adding a few days of leave onto the break and retirees with flexible schedules.

Online travel agency Ctrip's data suggested that about one-third of travelers rearranged their holiday plans to "go early or return late", stretching peak demand into mid-October. Bookings in Shijiazhuang, Wuhan and Xi'an between Thursday and Friday jumped 100 percent, 68 percent, and 40 percent year-on-year while overseas hotel reservations nearly doubled from 2024.

Airlines are also seizing the opportunity.

Japan Airlines, for example, launched a "buy-one-get-one-free" ticket campaign on Saturday, offering round-trip economy fares starting at 700 yuan per person from the Chinese mainland.

Beijing-based travel agency Utour, one of China's largest outbound operators, said its off-peak tour volume in the second half of the year rose 110 percent year-on-year. Demand for South America, North America, Australia and Southern Europe led the surge.

"Group sizes are shrinking from 40 to under 20," said Li Mengran, the company's marketing manager. "This autumn, smaller groups are preferred, and travelers want richer itineraries, not just check-in tours."

Other operators are seeing similar shifts.

Guangzhou-based GZL International Travel Service reported post-holiday prices dropped 20 to 50 percent, especially on long-haul domestic routes to Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Yunnan province and the Northeast. Demand for autumn foliage trains and "slow travel" packages has surged, particularly among travelers aged 55 to 70.

Professor Wu Liyun of the China Academy of Culture and Tourism at Beijing International Studies University describes off-peak travel as "a rational response to overcrowded holidays".

"People simply want better experiences and value. They avoid the peak when they can," she said. "But true off-peak balance depends on the full implementation of paid leave."

Wu also pointed to the rise of "reverse tourism" — visiting smaller, lesser-known towns rather than crowded landmarks.

"If policy tools like consumption vouchers can be directed toward these smaller destinations. They can help distribute flows more evenly and support local economies."

Dongguan Securities said that while tourism demand remains robust, its concentration in national holidays continues to strain supply chains and local infrastructure. Over time, that imbalance could push the government to strengthen the paid-leave system or introduce seasonal vacation models to spread demand more evenly.