The fact that the upcoming National Day holiday coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival has not cooled Shenzhen residents' enthusiasm for overseas tours, although tours to South Korea have been affected.

"More than 100 people have registered for European tours, doubling the number of tourists of last year's National Day holiday," said a manager with the Shenzhen OCT China travel service surnamed Zhang.

Zhang said the agency was not accepting any more bookings for European tours, as travel agencies need 10 working days to process European visa applications.

While foreign package tours are popular, more people are choosing in-depth tours, according to Zhang. The trend is to stay longer in a few countries instead of snatching a quick look of seven or eight countries at a time.

"People are wealthier, and require more quality traveling," she said.

Trips to Southeast Asian countries are still the top choice for people going abroad for the first time, as they are inexpensive, close, and rich in variety. "As visa applications for Southeast Asian countries take only three to four days, the next one or two weeks will be a prime time for people to sign up," said another manager surnamed Zhou.

Zhou said about 300 have signed up for Southeast Asian tours through her service, accounting for one-third of the total number of people who have booked tours for the holiday week.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Oct. 6, many are choosing tours that will return in the morning of that day or just before it, so that they can still enjoy a family dinner at home that day.

Editor: Donald