DOMESTIC tourism in China would most probably see a full recovery from the impact of COVID-19 by the end of this year, with new holiday-making trends accelerating industrial upgrading, the head of a major Chinese online travel agency said last week.

China’s domestic tourism market has recovered by 80 percent so far, and positive growth has been witnessed in various localities, Liang Jianzhang, chairman and co-founder of Trip.com Group, said at an industry summit held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Self-guided tours and medium- to high-end leisure trips would experience a robust recovery among all types of trips, Liang said.

As the virus keeps spreading in many overseas regions, Chinese travelers have mostly opted for domestic trips during this year, especially since trans-provincial travel resumed in July.

Changes have also occurred in domestic travelers’ spending habits. For example, more and more people are taking the hotel itself as the destination. Local evening tours with local delicacies and family trips have also become more popular, according to a research by Trip.com.

(Xinhua)