Fliggy Reports Record China Holiday Hotel Demand as AI Travel Use Surges Among Chinese Travellers

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Fliggy has recorded strong travel demand during China’s 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, with hotel stays reaching new highs and travellers showing greater interest in immersive experiences. The Alibaba-owned platform also reported a sharp increase in AI-assisted bookings and services, signalling changing patterns in how Chinese travellers plan trips.

Fliggy Records Record Hotel Demand During China’s Holiday Period

Fliggy’s latest travel booking data offers a detailed picture of how Chinese consumers travelled during the combined 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday. The Alibaba-owned online travel platform reported record hotel demand, stronger spending on quality accommodation and a noticeable shift towards experiences that allow travellers to engage more deeply with destinations.

The data also points to a growing role for technology in the travel journey. Fliggy’s agentic AI travel assistant recorded a substantial rise in interactions during the holiday period, while AI-assisted hotel and flight bookings increased sharply. Together, the figures suggest that China’s domestic travel market is becoming more experience-led, digitally managed and increasingly receptive to AI-supported services.

Hotel stays reach new records on Fliggy

Hotel demand was one of the strongest indicators of holiday travel momentum. Fliggy said fulfilled hotel room nights surpassed previous records for four consecutive days during the combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday.

Average daily fulfilled room nights increased by nearly 70% year on year, demonstrating the scale of accommodation demand during one of China’s most important travel periods. More than 100 cities across the country recorded a doubling in hotel room nights, indicating that the increase was not concentrated in only a small number of major tourism centres.

The performance is significant because hotel demand provides a useful indicator of both travel volume and consumer willingness to spend on accommodation. The figures suggest that travellers were not simply making short visits but were generating substantial demand for overnight stays across a broad range of Chinese destinations.

88VIP members spend more on quality accommodation

Fliggy’s data also highlights differences in spending behaviour among Alibaba’s 88VIP loyalty programme members.

During the combined holiday period, average hotel spending per capita among 88VIP members was 34% higher than the platform average. The figure indicates a stronger preference for higher-quality accommodation among this segment of travellers.

High-end hotels were among the principal beneficiaries. Fulfilled room nights for high-end properties on Fliggy increased by more than 80% year on year during the holiday.

The trend suggests that rising travel demand is not necessarily being driven only by budget-conscious consumers. A significant segment of Chinese travellers appears willing to allocate more of its holiday budget to accommodation, particularly when travelling during major national holidays.

For hotel operators, this creates an opportunity to compete on service, location, facilities and overall experience rather than relying solely on room price.

Hotel brands gain from Fliggy’s expanding distribution

The growth extended beyond established hotel businesses already operating on the platform. More than 70 hotel brand flagship stores on Fliggy doubled their room-night volumes year on year during the holiday.

For hotel merchants that joined Fliggy in 2026, average daily fulfilled room nights during the holiday were 135% higher than their peak period during China’s Labour Day holiday in May.

This comparison is particularly relevant for newer hotel merchants because it indicates that the platform can provide significant exposure during periods of concentrated travel demand.

The results also demonstrate the importance of digital distribution for hotels seeking to reach travellers at the point when they are actively searching and booking accommodation. As Chinese consumers increasingly combine hotel selection with broader travel planning, online travel platforms are becoming an important part of the hotel discovery and conversion process.

Chinese travellers seek experiences beyond traditional sightseeing

The Fliggy data shows that accommodation was only one part of the changing travel picture. Travellers increasingly looked for experiences that provided a stronger connection with local culture, communities and production.

Bookings for nature- and village-related experiences increased by more than 40% year on year, while the number of travellers booking historic village experiences rose by more than 90%.

The figures point to a growing appetite for destinations that offer cultural character and a sense of place. Instead of limiting a trip to conventional sightseeing attractions, travellers are increasingly exploring villages, heritage environments and local experiences.

This shift could benefit smaller destinations that may not have the international profile of China’s biggest cities but can offer distinctive cultural and natural attractions.

Intangible cultural heritage becomes part of the travel experience

Interest in cultural participation was also evident in demand for intangible cultural heritage activities.

Bookings for intangible cultural heritage workshops and cultural experiences more than doubled year on year during the holiday period. The growth suggests that travellers increasingly want to participate in local traditions rather than simply observe them.

Workshops can offer visitors opportunities to learn traditional skills, understand local production methods and interact directly with practitioners. For destinations, these activities can create additional tourism income while giving cultural heritage a more visible role within the visitor economy.

The trend also reflects a wider evolution in tourism, where travellers increasingly value memorable and participatory experiences that can provide a stronger personal connection with a destination.

Role-playing attractions turn visitors into participants

Immersive entertainment is another area experiencing rapid growth. Bookings for attractions featuring role-play and immersive experiences increased by 60% year on year.

The development represents a shift from attractions built primarily around observation towards experiences in which visitors become participants. Storytelling, role-playing and interactive environments can give travellers a more active role and create experiences that extend beyond conventional sightseeing.

For attraction operators, the trend creates opportunities to combine entertainment, technology, storytelling and local culture. It also provides a way to encourage visitors to spend more time at a destination and potentially increase spending on related services.

Factory tours emerge as a new travel attraction

Fliggy also identified factory tours as an emerging travel interest. Travellers are increasingly visiting production sites, with bookable experiences now including shipyards, vehicle manufacturing plants and beverage producers.

The popularity of such experiences reflects growing curiosity about what happens behind the products people use every day. Factory visits can provide educational value while giving travellers access to locations that are normally separated from the traditional tourism circuit.

For manufacturers and destinations, these tours can create another form of visitor engagement. They can also connect industrial activity with local tourism, providing an alternative attraction in regions where conventional sightseeing options may be limited.

AI becomes increasingly embedded in travel planning

Technology was another major feature of Fliggy’s holiday data. Total interactions with the platform’s agentic AI travel assistant increased by 158% during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period.

AI-assisted hotel and flight bookings increased by 110%, showing that travellers are not using AI solely for general information or inspiration. The technology is increasingly being applied to practical stages of the booking process.

AI-powered service requests also grew by nearly 100%. These included functions such as flight check-in and booking modifications, demonstrating how AI can support travellers after a booking has already been made.

This development could have wider implications for online travel platforms. As travellers become more comfortable delegating routine tasks to AI, travel companies may increasingly use intelligent assistants to connect search, booking, service and post-booking support within a single digital journey.

What Fliggy’s data means for the future of Chinese travel

Taken together, Fliggy’s figures reveal a Chinese travel market that is expanding across several dimensions. Hotel demand is reaching record levels, quality accommodation is attracting stronger spending, and smaller destinations and cultural experiences are gaining attention.

At the same time, travellers are becoming more interested in participation. Historic villages, intangible cultural heritage workshops, immersive attractions and factory tours all point towards a tourism model in which visitors increasingly seek access, interaction and personal experiences.

The rapid adoption of AI adds another layer to this transformation. The increase in AI-assisted bookings and service requests indicates that digital tools are becoming part of the practical travel journey rather than remaining experimental technology.

For hotels, attractions, destinations and travel platforms, the message is clear: Chinese travellers are demanding greater choice, richer experiences and more convenient digital services. Businesses able to combine distinctive experiences with seamless technology could be particularly well positioned as the market continues to evolve.

Fliggy’s 2026 holiday data shows Chinese travel becoming more valuable, immersive and technology-driven. Record hotel demand, stronger high-end accommodation spending and rising interest in villages, heritage, factories and role-play attractions point to changing traveller priorities. Meanwhile, rapidly increasing AI adoption is reshaping how trips are booked and managed.