Travel agencies enjoying robust recovery

Travel agencies in China witnessed a robust recovery with soaring booking figures during the eight-day National Day holiday. 

Shanghai-based Trip.com said on Thursday that its vehicle rental orders has surged more than 50 percent and private tour groups' bookings soared 100 percent during the holiday from the same period last year.

Food-themed trips, hiking, paragliding, hot-air balloons and diving were popular programs during the holiday, it said. 

Its hotel bookings grew 100 percent during the holiday from the same period last month, with four- and five-star hotels accounting for nearly half of the total. 

Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing and Hangzhou had the largest number of hotel bookings during the holiday, Trip.com said. 

More than 60 percent of those making bookings during the holiday were under the age of 30.

On the first four days of the holiday, its bookings of admissions to tourist attractions doubled from the same period last year, a record, it said. 

Scenic spots in Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Hubei, Sichuan, Zhejiang and Guangdong had the largest number of bookings in terms of tickets to scenic spots, it said. 

Shanghai-based online travel platform Lvmama said night tourism and red tourism gained in popularity during the holiday. 

It said its orders of night tourism products climbed 27 percent compared with the same period last year with Shanghai Huangpu River cruises, Guangzhou Zhujiang River cruises and Jinji Lake night tours in Suzhou among the most popular. 

The peak for short-distance travel peak was between October 3 and 5 and the number of bookings of three to four day trips grew 17 percent from last year, it said. 

Many tourists visited Yangcheng Lake and Taihu Lake to taste hairy crabs, the seasonal delicacy, during the holiday, it said. 

Because of the pandemic, small tour groups ranging between two and six people and independent tours were more popular, it said. 

Online tourism platform Tuniu said more than 40 percent of those making bookings during the holiday were families with children. 

Beijing, Xi'an, Sanya, and Guangzhou were among the most popular holiday destinations, it said.