As the traditional Chinese New Year approaches, bookings for the upcoming holiday are picking up pace, the Paper reported on Monday.

The upcoming holiday will be extended a day to an 8-day-long holiday from Jan 28 to Feb 4, as per the latest revision of the national festival and commemorative day holiday regulations, contributing to surge in bookings during this period.

Flight reservations made on Dec 3 via online travel agency Qunar for travel before Chinese New Year's Eve hit a record high in nearly two months. Although some airlines have launched discounted seats, the ticket price is expected to rise when Chinese New Year's Eve train tickets go on sale after Jan 13, 2025.

Another travel platform Tongcheng Travel shows that the average domestic ticket price is expected to grow from Jan 10-18, forming the first travel peak before the holiday. As the holiday approaches, the second-round of ticket price will start rising from Jan 20, reaching a pre-holiday peak between Jan 23 and 27.

Moreover, package group travel bookings in the second week of December increased by 40 percent compared with the previous week, with flight ticket and hotel booking rising by more than 50 percent as well as self-driving tour and self-guided travel growing by nearly 40 percent, according to travel portal Tuniu Corp.

Popular booked domestic destinations include Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Sanya, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Harbin and Chongqing. The price of about 80 percent of the group travel of this year's holiday has fallen by 10 to 40 percent, peaking from Jan 28 to Feb 2 and returning to normal level after the holiday, the report from GZL International Travel Service shows.

Small group travel bookings surged by about 700 percent compared with the same period in 2019, which shows that it has become more and more popular among tourists.

The longer holiday is also stimulating the cross-border travel. Japan may become the hottest destination for tourists during the holiday, according to data from multiple travel platforms.

China's visa-free transit policy has been adjusted to extending the permitted stay for eligible foreign travelers from the original 72 and 144 hours to 240 hours, or 10 days, the National Immigration Administration announced on Tuesday.

Reviewer1:  Huang Mengyao

Reviewer2: Zhang Yanlan

Reviewer3:Tang Caihong

English Reviewer: Shen Fei