Tourists visit a flower farm in Lisai Village of Zho'nyin County in Gannan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 11, 2021. In recent years, the local government of Lisai Village has taken advantage of the natural resources to develop rural tourism and helped increase villagers' income. Photo: Xinhua

More than 2.6 billion domestic trips were made in the first three quarters of 2021, a year-over-year increase of 39.1 percent, with figures recovering to 58.5 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday.

The data showed that in the first three quarters, China's domestic tourism revenue, also known as total tourism consumption, reached 2.37 trillion yuan, an increase of 63.5 year-over- year, but 54.4 percent for the corresponding period in 2019.

In the third quarter, the domestic trips reached 818 million, narrowing to 18.3 percent growth year-over-year. Multiple sporadic outbreaks have had a negative impact on the tourism industry, especially cross-provincial travel, as China has strengthened regulations on coronavirus prevention and control, analysts said.

Due to recent flare-ups across the country, many provinces including east China's Shandong and northwest China's Gansu have suspended cross-provincial tour groups and the operation of travel agencies, following reports of a few COVID-19 cases in the provinces.

As of October 31, 27 major tourism and hotel companies have disclosed their earnings for the third quarter in 2021, more than half of which reported negative net profits, with over 60 percent reporting negative growth of net profit year-on-year, due to the outbreaks of COVID-19 during the summer.

Global Times