More tourists driving themselves

Car rental boom

Car rentals skyrocketed over the holiday on the back of the growing tourism trend.

To better meet consumer demand, China Auto Rental Holdings Inc added 10,000 new vehicles to its fleet before the holiday. The nation's biggest car rental service provider started to receive orders for the National Day holiday in August and nearly 70 percent of its fleet was booked a week before the holiday.

At last, more than 80 percent of its cars across the country were rented for the holiday and in some cities, the rate reached as high as 90 percent.

According to the company, a lot of customers preferred to rent a SUV for their trips because it offers a comfortable driving experience and can cope with various road situations.

And large MPVs like the Buick GL8 are a popular choice as well for the whole family to go out, it said.

In addition to serving local customers who do not have their own cars, the rental agencies have a growing client base of travelers from other cities.

Rong, the IT engineer said his next driving tour destination is the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

But it is too far away and time-consuming to drive all the way there, so he will fly and then rent a car there for a more extensive tour, he said.

Li Fangfang contributed to this story