TONGCHENGTRAVEL (00780): The Asian Table Tennis Cup kicks off in Haikou. The surrounding hotels' booking popularity has surged by over 150% compared to last year.

From February 4th to 8th, 2026, the 35th ITTF-Asian Table Tennis Union Asian Cup will kick off in Wuyuan River Sports Center in Haikou, Hainan Province. Data from TONGCHENGTRAVEL (00780) platform shows that during the competition, hotel booking around the venue has increased by over 150% compared to last year, with the booking rate of high-star hotels within 3 kilometers of the Wuyuan River Sports Center exceeding 90%. As the highest level of table tennis tournament in Asia, this competition has attracted 64 top players to participate in both men's and women's singles events, with a total of 128 matches taking place over 5 competition days. The event also serves as a qualification tournament for the ITTF World Cup, making the competition intense. This edition of the competition marks the first time the Asian Cup has been held in Haikou, and it is also the first major international sports event to take place on the whole island of Hainan since the island was closed off. It not only brings together top table tennis players in Asia to compete, but also serves as an important platform to showcase the city's vitality, unleash consumer potential, and promote the integration of sports, culture, and tourism. Seizing this opportunity, Haikou will launch the "Haikou, Ping Pong is Here" sports consumer carnival from February 3rd to 12th, involving 18 key business districts, special areas, and transportation hubs in the city. With the goals of expanding sports consumer scenes, creating a sports travel brand, fostering a participatory atmosphere, and promoting local consumption linkage, a comprehensive city dynamic line integrating "watching games + shopping + check-in + experience" will be established to present an open, confident, and vibrant modern Haikou to the world. Fans can exchange their Asian Cup tickets for various types of consumption vouchers, such as dining, retail, cultural and creative, and duty-free, in participating areas to enjoy discounts citywide. "The Asian Cup effectively activates Hainan's cultural and tourism consumption chain. Leveraging the benefits of the upgraded duty-free policy after the island closure, the successful implementation of the "ticket economy" model in this edition of the Asian Cup has significantly boosted duty-free consumption, with both the number of duty-free consumption and the amount spent increasing simultaneously. This innovation has transformed the "watching game traffic" into "duty-free consumption traffic," making the event an important channel for Hainan's duty-free economy, further consolidating its position as an international tourism consumption center," said a senior analyst from the Tongcheng Research Institute. It is reported that the Asian Table Tennis Cup has also gained attention due to the return of top Chinese players Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin from injuries. Both players withdrew from the WTT Hong Kong Finals at the end of 2025 due to injuries and have since missed several international competitions. Choosing Haikou as their first battle of the new year has not only ignited the enthusiasm of fans nationwide but also directly driven the demand for integrated "watching games + tourism" trips.