Rural charms cast their magic

The surge in interest in camping and glamping has been shown with a 160 percent year-on-year increase in views of camping related video content on Bilibili.

Private and self-drive tours also benefited from the COVID-cautious attitude of travelers.

In 2021, the number of orders for private groups via Trip.com Group increased by nearly 70 percent year-on-year.

Top destinations for private tours include Hulunbuir of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Sanya of Hainan province, Xining of Qinghai province, Guiyang of Guizhou province, Lijiang of Yunnan province and Guilin of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

On average, each private tour catered to around 3.6 people last year, with per capita spending of 4,200 yuan.

Travelers' preferences for flexibility and a sense of security in a private space fueled the popularity of self-drive tours, which stimulated the need for car rentals.

Trip.com Group reports an 80 percent year-on-year increase in its car rental orders in 2021. Chongqing saw its local car rent business grow by 11 percent over that of 2020.

Moreover, more Chinese travelers turned to livestreaming sales of travel products.

The audience tuning in to Trip.com's livestreams surged by 171 percent in 2021, the online travel agency reports.