(Yicai) April 16 -- Travel bookings in China over this year’s Labor Day holiday are expected to reach their highest level since the same period in 2023, and artificial intelligence-powered trip planning is emerging as a fast-growing new trend, according to the latest data from online travel agency Tongcheng Travel.

Travel will likely peak in the first two days of the five-day break, which starts May 1, and there will be strong demand for both short and long-distance trips, according to Suzhou-based Tongcheng. There is a notable uptick in interest in luxury leisure vacations.

Bookings for domestic trips over the Labor Day holiday have more than doubled on Tuniu from a year earlier, the travel platform said.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are the most popular destinations, according to travel agency Qunar. Coastal cities in the northeast of the country, such as Qingdao and Weihai, are also attracting spring tourists, as are a number of scenic cities along the 30°N latitude belt, which roughly runs along the Yangtze River.

Meanwhile, AI-powered travel planning is gaining traction. Tongcheng's Chengxin AI offers a sketch-based itinerary mapping feature, while Fliggy's AI Itinerary Assistant uses advanced AI models such as DeepSeek-R1 and Alibaba Cloud's Tongyi Qianwen to generate personalized travel plans that include route planning, activity recommendations and hotel selections.

For outbound travel, Japan, the Maldives, Indonesia, and Thailand are still top destinations. Trips to the US could see a sharp drop due to the US’ new Reciprocal Tariffs, industry insiders said. Instead, travellers might shift their holiday plans to Europe or Southeast Asia. The outbound market remains robust and travel operators should be able to withstand policy changes, they said.

Editor: Kim Taylor