Aerial photo taken on Nov. 15, 2020 shows the view of Xiasi Ancient Town of Kaili in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

China’s tourism industry, once hit hard by COVID-19, has walked out of the shadow of the pandemic, statistics from major travelling information and service companies show, Economic Daily reported.

Online travel agency Tongcheng-Elong said it has 246 million monthly active users, a rise of 5 percent compared with the same period last year. It also claimed to have witnessed an increase in revenue during the first three quarters of the year.

Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, saw a year-on-year increase of 20 percent in hotel bookings, and the profit margin of its operating revenue climbed by 24 percent, topping global listed travel companies.

Statistics also indicated that third- and fourth- tier cities have become major contributors to the recovery. Tongcheng-Elong said about 86.1 percent of its users were from smaller cities as of the end of September.