TONGCHENGTRAVEL: Longer holidays and reduced adjustments next year, with a 3-fold surge in Spring Festival flight searches

On November 12, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice regarding the arrangement of certain holidays in 2025. According to the revised "National Holiday and Memorial Day Leave Measures" in November 2024, starting from January 1, 2025, the number of holidays for all citizens will increase by 2 days, with the Spring Festival and Labor Day each gaining 1 additional day. This means that the Spring Festival in 2025 will have 8 days off, and only 1 day of adjustment will be needed for the May Day holiday. Data from TONGCHENGTRAVEL (00780) shows that within half an hour of the announcement, the search popularity for flight tickets during the Spring Festival holiday period on the platform surged more than three times compared to the same time the previous day, and the trend continued to rise. Additionally, some tourists have already begun searching for outbound flight tickets for the "Eleven" holiday.

The Spring Festival holiday in 2025 starts on January 28, the eve of the festival, and ends on February 4, the seventh day of the lunar new year. Many tourists are starting to plan their long holiday arrangements. Data from TONGCHENGTRAVEL indicates that the day before the eve and the last day of the holiday are the peak travel times. Many tourists also choose to depart between the third and fifth days of the lunar new year, utilizing the latter half of the holiday for travel after reuniting with family.

The TONGCHENG Research Institute believes that the holiday plan for 2025 substantially increases the statutory holidays by 2 days, enhancing the supply of public holidays. Office workers can more conveniently stitch together long holidays using public holidays, which is conducive to forming a new pattern of staggered travel during holidays. The new holiday plan provides policy recommendations on the number of adjustment days before and after the holiday (principally not exceeding 6 days) and effectively reduces the number of adjustment days before and after the May Day and Spring Festival holidays by adding 2 days off, actively responding to the public's call for reducing adjustment arrangements around holidays. The increase in public holidays and the reduction in adjustment days in 2025 can create more flexible "leave stitching" options for everyone, and the flexible connection between paid leave and public holidays will further stimulate the public's enthusiasm for leisure and vacation consumption