As the 2026 Dragon Boat Festival holiday came to a close, the tourism market saw a notable surge in experience-oriented travel, driven by a growing appetite for emotional value. The most prominent trends were deep dives into traditional customs, retreats to rural destinations for heat relief, and luxury travel packages that fused accommodation with curated cultural experiences.

In the civil aviation sector, big data from Umetrip shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, domestic air passenger trips exceeded 4.58 million, while inbound and outbound air passenger volume exceeded 720,000, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 4%.

Thanks to over a hundred dragon boat activities, Guangdong topped the list of popular destinations for dragon boat viewing tours, with hotel bookings across the province surging by over 50% year-on-year. This year, the Dragon Boat Festival falls on Father's Day, sparking a notable trend of "taking dad to watch dragon boat races", which drove a clear uptick in bookings among middle-aged and older men. Among bookings for dragon boat racing products, men aged 45 and above accounted for 47%, an increase of 6 percentage points. Meanwhile, bookings for high-quality hotels in Guangdong's core race areas saw a year-on-year increase of over 20%. Immersive experiences such as making zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), crafting scented sachets, and weaving five-colored string bracelets also saw bookings jump more than 23% from a year earlier. Shaoguan, with its rich intangible cultural heritage offerings, rose to the top 10 most popular destinations for folk customs. These hands-on experiences also gave a strong boost to homestay bookings, with Guangdong ranking second nationwide in homestay reservations.

During the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, travelers showed a clear preference for premium travel, with per-person spending on bookings rising 16% year-on-yearand domestic hotel room nights surging over 30% from the previous year. Young travelers and families with children were the primary drivers of this travel boom. Data from Tujia shows that nearly 40% of homestay bookings came from the post-2000s generation, with graduates and young tourists preferring to stay with friends in homestays, where they could socialize and watch games in a relaxed atmosphere.

端午文旅市场掀“体验式”热潮

2026年端午假期落下帷幕，以“情绪价值”为导向的体验式热潮引爆文旅市场，传统民俗深度体验、避暑“奔县”旅居及高品质酒旅融合消费成为几大核心亮点。

民航出行方面，航旅纵横大数据显示，端午假期国内民航旅客量超458万人次，出入境民航旅客量超72万人次，同比增长约4%。

凭借上百项龙舟活动，广东稳居2026端午龙舟观赛游热门目的地榜首，全省酒店预订量同比增超五成。今年端午恰逢父亲节，“带老爸看龙舟”催生了独特的“爷叔团”现象。龙舟观赛产品预订中，45岁以上男性用户占比达47%，占比提升6个百分点，广东龙舟赛事核心区高品质酒店预订热度同比涨幅超20%。包粽子、制香囊、五彩绳编织等深度体验类产品预订热度同比增长超23%。广东韶关凭借丰富非遗活动跻身非遗民俗“黑马”热门目的地TOP10。这类体验也直接带动了民宿预订，广东民宿预订量位居全国第二。

端午期间，消费者品质旅行偏好明显，人均预订金额同比增长16%，境内酒店间夜量同比增长超30%。年轻客群与亲子家庭构成出游主力。途家数据表明，“00后”民宿订单占比接近四成，毕业生及年轻游客更愿与好友同住民宿，在自由氛围中社交、看球。

文 | 记者 刘星彤
译｜黄健新
英文审校｜盛嘉