This file photo shows crowded tourists on the Great Wall in Beijing. (Photo/thepaper,cn)
(ECNS) -- The number of tourist trips during the upcoming National Day holiday will hit 710 million, according to a report by China Tourism Academy.
The academy says the coincidence of the National Day holiday and Mid-Autumn Festival will mean a strong willingness to travel both inside China and abroad.
A survey conducted in 60 cities found that the inclination toward tourism in the fourth quarter increased to 82.6 percent, with 64.8 percent of respondents planning to travel during the National Day holiday.
For destinations, 36.7 percent said they would visit attractions in other provinces or cities, a growth of 5 percent. The survey also showed nearly half will travel by car, followed by flights (22.2 percent) and trains (14.6 percent).
Total trips over eight days will increase 10 percent over last year with tourism income expected to hit 590 billion yuan ($89.5 billion), a year-on-year growth of 12.2 percent.
Overseas trips, especially to East Asia and Southeast Asia, will also see steady growth thanks to the longer holiday and a stronger yuan, said the academy.
Online tourism website Ctrip.com also reported on Monday that hundreds of thousands of tourists have reserved journeys, including trips to nearly 100 countries. The top 10 overseas destinations are in Thailand, Japan, Singapore, the U.S., Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and Russia.
South Korea will see the biggest drop in Chinese tourists, a decline of 70 percent compared to last year, as packaged tours to the country have been suspended.
The website also estimates that top 10 destinations with the largest number of tourists will be Beijing, Yunnan, Hainan, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Hunan, Shanghai and Guangdong.
In Beijing, attractions like Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Great Wall will be packed with tourists. Sanya in Hainan Province and Xiamen in Fujian Province are also expected to attract a flood of visitors. The opening of new high-speed trains also places Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, Mogao Grottoes in Gansu Province and Qinghai Lake among favorite routes.
