Citi has released a research report stating that due to the proximity of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day Golden Week, travel demand in late September may have already been released ahead of schedule, which could dilute the performance of the upcoming Golden Week. The longer holiday may drive more long-distance travel demand, and the bank believes this is overall positive for hotel booking volumes, though pricing performance may be less attractive. Within the sector, the bank is bullish on Atour Lifestyle Holdings Ltd (ATAT.US) and HWORLD-S (01179).

The bank noted that according to data from the Ministry of Transport, nationwide passenger volume during the three-day Mid-Autumn holiday reached 643 million trips, up 2.2% compared to the 2024 Mid-Autumn Festival. Among these, railway, aviation, and waterway passenger volumes increased by 26.3%, 19.8%, and 45.7% year-on-year respectively, reflecting that medium and long-distance travel demand was released ahead of the Golden Week. Short-distance self-driving passenger volume dipped slightly by 0.5% year-on-year, but self-driving demand during the Golden Week is expected to rebound as the seven-day expressway toll-free policy takes effect from October 1.