As the first holiday after China's 10 new COVID-19 measures, the three-day New Year holiday sees a recovery in the long-distance tourism market across the country, with over 60 percent of travelers choosing cross-provincial trips compared with 40 percent last year, data from major Chinese travel agency Ctrip shows.

As China's new COVID-19 measures removed restrictions on passenger travel at home, many passengers are willing to spend the New Year's holiday traveling.

According to Mafengwo data, citizens of first-tier and new first-tier cities, who have recovered from the first COVID-19 infection peak, have become the main force of holiday tourism consumption, accounting for 73 percent of the total.

The most popular destinations are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Sanya in Hainan Province, Chongqing, Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, Zhuhai in Guangdong Province, Changsha in Hunan Province, and Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, data shows.

Data from Tujia Homestay shows that during the New Year's holiday, the number of homestay reservations for more than three consecutive days has increased by more than six times year-on-year in warm cities such as Xishuangbanna and Dali Prefecture in Yunnan Province, Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, Sanya in Hainan Province, and Beihai in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The Tongcheng Research Institute analyzed that the rapid recovery of the New Year holiday tourism market was due to the gradual recovery of people's travel confidence on the one hand. On the other, the 2022 spring festival is drawing near, thus the peak of passenger flow will come earlier.

The unexpected tourism market during the New Year's holiday laid a solid foundation for tourism recovery in 2023, the institute said.