IN-DEPTH tours are favored even more during the upcoming “Golden Week” National Day holiday, with self-guided tours accounting for more than 50 percent of all packages sold. The prices for tourism products have also risen by 30 percent, according to Spring Airlines, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

As this year’s National Day holiday coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, the eight-day holiday makes it more flexible for travel planning.

In light of airline ticket bookings, ticket prices have witnessed a roller coaster, with prices rising sharply from Sept. 29 and coming to an abrupt halt Oct. 10.

Taking Spring Airlines’ route from Shenzhen to Xi’an as an example, the ticket price is 1,090 yuan (US$166.4) for Sept. 28, an increase of over 200 yuan compared with the previous day. But the fare rises more than 700 yuan in just four days, climbing to 1,500 yuan for Sept. 30 and 1,580 yuan for Oct. 1. For Oct. 10, the price is only 350 yuan.

“This year’s super long Golden Week also presents a new feature. The ticket prices peak on Oct. 1, the first day of the holiday,” a staff member from Spring Airlines said. In previous years, usually the day before the Golden Week, Sept. 30, would see the highest ticket prices, which then would fall day by day. However, this year, due to the long vacation, a considerable number of tourists are choosing to travel Oct. 1. As a result, ticket prices peak on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

Overseas destinations remain mainly in Southeast Asia. For example, an airplane ticket from Shenzhen to Sabah costs 2,867 yuan (including tax) for Oct. 1. But the price plummets once past the Golden Week, as the off-season continues until Spring Festival in the following year.

For this year’s National Day holiday, more than 50 percent of the self-guided tours in China and the Asia Pacific have been sold.

(Zhang Yu)