Road-trip tourism takes off in China

Driving for sightseeing, once marginal in the tourism industry, is coming in vogue and stimulating the car rental business in China.

According to the latest report, more than 40 percent of airline and train tourists want to rent cars for tours after their arrivals. Ctrip.com International Ltd, one of the leading online travel service providers, released its new car rental report on Wednesday.

It said its domestic car rental business has enjoyed stellar growth rate of 150 percent year-on-year. According to the report, Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan province and Guiyang in Guizhou province are the three fastest-growing tourism destinations, with a year-on-year growth rate almost reaching 200 percent.