Visitors view a recreational vehicle at the 18th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)
BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Recreational vehicle (RV) travel is gaining popularity in China as more consumers are pursuing tourism featuring small scale gathering and large activity space amid the epidemic, according to Liu Hanqi, secretary general of self-driving tour and caravanning branch of China Tourism Automobile and Cruise Association (CTACA).
Data showed that the booking volume of RV-related travel products on the online travel service platform Qunar.com increased 30 percent year on year since the start of this year.
During the May Day holiday, the booking of RV travel products on Fliggy.com, the online travel platform owned by Alibaba Group, went up 32 percent year on year, with the units per transaction rising about 30 percent year on year, according to Zhang Ye in charge of the car business of Fliggy.com.
The area of mainstream RVs in China ranges from 10 square meters to 50 square meters, said Yang Guanghui, executive responsible for the holiday product operation of Qunar.com. The booking volume of campsites on the online travel platform since January 1 increased 20 percent year on year, and the most favorable campsites by booking volume are Huizhou city, Guangzhou city, Chengdu city and Chongqing municipality.
The burgeoning trend reflects the increasing demand of consumers for high-quality tourism products and diversified tourism destinations, said Liu.
RV travel has been thriving in China in recent years, said Liu, adding that China's RV ownership has increased from thousands 10 years ago to about 200,000 currently. (Edited by Su Dan with Xinhua Silk Road, sudan@xinhua.org)
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