The demand for tourism from rural residents and the elderly is becoming a new driving force for the innovative development of the country’s tourism industry.

More people chose to experience new scenery and tourism products during the Spring Festival holiday. New vacation options, including ice and snow tourism, short-distance travel and cultural tourism, not only brought people more fun but also helped heat up the tourism market.

The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, which opened during the Spring Festival holiday, have fueled the growth of the ice and snow industry.

According to the online platforms, the order volume for snow and ice tourism destinations during the Lunar New Year holiday jumped 68 percent from a year ago.

The order volume for skiing events grew 33 percent year on year over the first three days of the holiday, and cities with abundant ice and snow sports activities in the south, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, have also joined the list of popular destinations for ice and snow travel.

Short-distance travel was a popular choice during the Spring Festival holiday.

Online travel platforms report that over 80 percent of tourists chose to travel locally. Bookings for local tourist attractions and hotels respectively accounted for approximately 82 percent and 60 percent of all orders.

Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou were among the most popular tourist destinations and also major sources of tourists over the holiday.

There was surging demand for hotels providing specialized entertainment such as esports, with orders for esports rooms during the holiday increasing over 80 percent.