As travel curbs turned China's tourism industry into one of the largest casualties of the coronavirus pandemic, customized tours and short trips have recently become new growth engines for the industry.

Tibetan girls perform a dance at a tent hotel in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. (Photo/Xinhua)

Orders for "customized tours" on Mafengwo, a travel platform in China, during this year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday were up 4,300 percent compared with those during the previous Tomb-Sweeping Day, according to data from the platform. 

"At present, tourists from all over the country are mainly local tourists, and local tourists have a higher demand for new and better experiences, not just touring around and sightseeing. 'Customized tours' have gradually become the mainstream in recent years, and the epidemic has also promoted the maturity of the market," said Feng Rao, director of the Mafengwo tourism research center.

Feng added that compared with previous years, Chinese tourists have accumulated more expectations for travel, have a more adequate budget, and pay more attention to travel security and privacy.

In recent years, the implementation of a series of major strategies, such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt Development Plan, has not only injected new vitality into the regional economic development, but also provided an opportunity for the new development of regional tourism. 

As COVID-19 has imposed great challenges to the development of the tourist industry, tapping the potential of regional tourism has become a vital tool for the development of the industry in many regions.

Short trips have currently become the main form of tourism, which brings opportunities for the development of regional tourism. 

According to data from several online travel platforms, as short trips in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Chengdu-Chongqing regions are the most welcomed during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday this year, intra-provincial and surrounding tours continue to be the preferred way for tourists to travel during short holidays.