Off-peak travel prices fall as seniors and young professionals drive September demand

Key points

• With summer family traffic fading and the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays yet to begin, China's domestic travel market has entered an off-peak period, with airfare and hotel prices at low-season levels.
• Tuniu data show demand from family and young-to-middle-aged travellers has fallen sharply since September, while travel intent among people over 50 has risen notably.
• Tongcheng data show a prominent share of travellers aged 55-plus and young professionals splitting 3–4 days off with annual leave in September; Meituan data show people aged 20–30 account for nearly 50% of "low-season" travellers.
• Tongcheng's discounted airfare list shows September off-peak fares are 30–40% cheaper than during the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays and more than half cheaper than the 30 September peak; pre-Mid-Autumn hotel rates are down 30–40% from August, with some resort hotels falling over 50%.
• The National Day travel peak is expected to run from 24 September to 6 October, making this year's September off-peak window notably shorter than last year; autumn destinations such as Shangrao, Beijing, Anshun, Altay, Huangshan, Jiuzhaigou and Daocheng Yading are drawing attention.