Now, the cost for Ctrip's four-day individual trip departing on March 7 to South Korea has plummeted to 1,800 yuan from 3,500 yuan on Feb 8, the festival's first day.

"Relaxed visa policies substantially increased market demand during the festival, leading to significant increases in hotel and air ticket prices," Li says.

"But costs have returned to normal".

The costs of six-day trips to Japan's Hokkaido from Utour have gone back to 7,000-9,000 yuan from 15,000 yuan during the Spring Festival. Five-to-nine-day trips to Thailand are now around 3,000-5,000 yuan instead of 10,000 yuan during the holiday.

Several long-distance getaways are also cheaper.

An eight-day tour on Ctrip's website that covers Australia's Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast in March has dropped to 12,000 yuan from 21,500 yuan during Spring Festival.

Domestic tourism costs have also plummeted 30-50 percent.

Some tourists have even booked May trips to enjoy cheaper prices offered by Ctrip to snag post-holiday promotions.

An eight-day trip to Yunnan province's Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Xishuangbanna from Shanghai is now 2,000 yuan－h(huán)alf the holiday price.

A four-day trip to Jiangxi province's Wuyuan county from Shanghai is now a little more than 800 yuan. A three-day trip to Fujian province's Wuyi Mountain costs around 1,400 yuan.

Prices will again surge in March.

But cost-conscious tourists can save big if they book trips for that month now.