A record number of tourists from the Chinese mainland are expected to travel during the holiday peak season that starts on Sept 22, with outbound trips being the top choice for many.

The China Tourism Academy forecast that 210 million tourists will travel domestically in the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.

The academy did not forecast how many mainland tourists will visit Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao as well as foreign destinations, but industry insiders said that long-distance foreign destinations in the United States and Europe will also benefit from the long holiday.

This year, 1.3 billion Chinese will be able to enjoy two public holiday periods as long as 10 days.

The Mid-Autumn Festival holiday falls on Sept 22 to 24, while the seven-day National Day holiday starts on Oct 1. Between them, there are six working days.

"If people can get approval to take the week off between the two holidays, they can have a 16-day holiday, which is ideal for long-distance outbound tours," said Dai Bin, head of the academy.

Travel agencies said sales of packages for long-distance outbound destinations have particularly benefited from the two holidays.

"The long holiday allows more tourists to participate in our outbound tours to faraway destinations, such as Canada, South Africa and even Chile and Tahiti," said Shi Xiaojuan, assistant general manager of the China Travel Service Beijing office.

Packages of trips to the US, Canada and Japan are all very popular. These were fully booked by as early as the end of August, she said.