The 2025 Qixi Festival coincides with Friday, as the "romantic economy" overlaps with the college semester opening season, adding fuel to the summer travel market that is nearing its end. On August 28, TongchengTravel released the "2025 Qixi Festival Travel Data Report," showing that this year's Qixi Festival saw sustained high demand for premium hotel bookings, with romantic-themed hotel packages and specialty room types like couples' rooms and audio-visual rooms being particularly popular. Additionally, since the Qixi Festival falls close to the weekend, the mutual visits of long-distance couples brought positive momentum to the long-haul tourism market, with cities like Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen becoming popular flight booking destinations.

Premium Hotel Bookings Surge Nearly 40%

TongchengTravel data shows that on Qixi Festival day, domestic premium hotel booking heat increased nearly 40% year-over-year, with specialty room types being particularly sought after. As of August 27, on the TongchengTravel app, the Kempinski Hotel Suzhou had its pet-friendly king bed rooms with scenic window views sell out first on Qixi Festival day. Similarly, the Presidential Suite at The St. Regis Shanghai On The Bund also sold out in advance on Qixi Festival day.

Furthermore, some accessible rooms with areas exceeding 40 square meters were also hot-selling products. Romantically decorated couples' rooms, audio-visual rooms with large-screen TVs or projection functions, and hourly rooms near subway stations or popular commercial districts were equally popular.

The surge in specialty room type bookings reflects the prevalence of self-indulgent consumption and experiential consumption in the hotel market. From user demographics and consumption preferences, post-90s and post-2000s generations combined accounted for nearly 70% of Qixi Festival hotel bookings, with male users comprising over 62%. Compared to male users who prefer booking audio-visual rooms and hourly rooms, female users showed higher proportions in family rooms and cost-effective hotel package bookings.

Notably, since this year's Qixi Festival coincides with the college semester opening season, the overlap of these two booking demands further boosted domestic hotel market booking heat. TongchengTravel data shows that from August 29 to September 1, the top ten cities with the highest domestic hotel booking heat were Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Guangzhou, and Wuhan.

High Flight Booking Heat to Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen

When Qixi Festival meets Friday, it also provides a reason for long-distance couples to make mutual visits. TongchengTravel data shows that on Qixi Festival day, domestic flight booking heat increased 15% week-over-week. The top ten popular flight routes by booking heat were: Beijing-Chengdu, Guangzhou-Chengdu, Shenzhen-Chongqing, Lhasa-Chengdu, Shanghai-Guangzhou, Chongqing-Shenzhen, Guangzhou-Beijing, Shenzhen-Chengdu, Shanghai-Shenzhen, and Guangzhou-Shanghai.

Large-scale cultural and sports events, including celebrity concerts, also became a major driver of Qixi Festival long-haul tourism heat. TongchengTravel data shows that driven by the 2025 Table Tennis Super League third stage Urumqi competition and the Urumqi Marathon, hotel booking heat in Urumqi from August 29 to 31 increased over 32% year-over-year. Among popular flight routes, the top five source cities by booking heat were Chengdu, Xi'an, Kashgar, Beijing, and Zhengzhou.

In recent years, more scenic spots have been attracting tourists by exploring the cultural significance behind festivals and launching marketing activities that combine regional and cultural characteristics. TongchengTravel data shows that from August 29 to August 31, domestic traditional cultural scenic spot booking heat increased 52% week-over-week, while night tour product booking heat surged 79% week-over-week.

From August 29 to 31, the "Splendid Night·Indigo Luzhi" event in Luzhi Ancient Town will launch the "Brocade Night Walk·Jiangnan Romance" Qixi-themed activities, covering tickets, accommodation, and dining scenarios. Additionally, scenic spots like Wuzhen in Jiaxing, Nianhua Bay in Wuxi, and Luoyi Ancient City in Luoyang also launched diverse Qixi Festival special activities.