Yang Feiyue

with the same March, Trip.com reports.

The agency’s hotel bookings increased by nearly 60 percent month-on-month.

Most travelers are opting for trips within 200 kilometers from home.

Short-distance-tour bookings through Trip.com have tripled in April compared with March. Most are for weekends.

“The recent short-distance tour prices are the lowest in a decade,” says Li Xuepeng, marketing officer with Trip.com’s short-distance-travel business.

“Many scenic spots, hotels and other travel businesses are offering special deals to encourage customers to go out after the epidemic.”

In other words, travel is currently cost-efficient, he says.

Airlines and hotels are also offering big discounts.

Most flights between major cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, are less than 300 yuan this month.

Travelers driving their own cars have also been hitting the open road in central, southwestern and eastern China, according to big data from navigation-service provider AutoNavi.

Sichuan’s provincial capital, Chengdu, has become a popular destination for road-trippers since late March, with crowds driving to experience spring blossoms.

Major domestic travel agencies have developed safe tours.

Trip.com rolled out private group packages for three to six family members or friends.

All vehicles are meticulously sterilized. Guides, drivers and passengers have their temperatures taken. And medical and disinfection supplies are prepared.

E-commerce giant Alibaba’s travel-business arm, Fliggy, is offering online booking for over 20,000 hotels that follow stringent sterilization procedures and scenic spots.

Beijing-based online travel-service provider Qunar has initiated a safety-service commitment that ensures all service providers finish 14-day quarantines and update their health information daily afterward. All personnel have also received epidemic-prevention and safety training.

These safe tours are crucial to rebooting tourism since deals largely determine travelers’ decisions, Trip.com’s big data lab’s chief researcher Peng Liang says.

Some attractions have used livestreams to market themselves and offer vicarious travel experiences.

Tens of thousands of people watched the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda’s livestream in late March.

Over 150,000 netizens watched a livestream by Haichang Ocean Park on Fliggy in Shanghai in March. It helped double bookings for the park during the Qingming holiday.

Peng believes COVID-19’s impact on tourism is temporary. Travel demand remains. And the evolution could create new opportunities. period in