Hong Kong stock concept tracking | "May Day" diversified travel activates holiday economy, long-haul travel market outbreak, catering consumption, hotels and other areas attention (with concept stocks)

The "May Day" holiday has come to an end. This year, with the gradual introduction of spring breaks in various places, the cultural and tourism market has ushered in a new round of growth opportunities. Recently, major platforms have successively disclosed this year's "May Day" holiday travel data, showing a significant increase in the long-haul travel market. It is worth noting that during this year's "May Day" holiday, experience-based consumption centered around interests has exploded, with "traveling with events", checking in at niche "treasure cities", and going to see performances in person becoming new trends in travel. Cultural and sports activities, along with deep cultural tourism, are driving forces, becoming a strong engine for boosting holiday economic activity. According to data from various platforms such as TONGCHENGTRAVEL, Ctrip, and Qunar, domestic deep travel, inter-provincial long-haul travel, self-driving tours, and reverse travel to small cities have all surged during the May Day holiday this year, while outbound long-haul travel has steadily rebounded. The number of travelers and the amount of spending are expected to reach a new peak, with holiday cultural and tourism consumption presenting a new development pattern of overall popularity, diverse formats, and upgraded quality. Long-haul travel has been a major player in the cultural tourism market. TONGCHENGTRAVEL data shows that the benefits of the May Day holiday combined with spring break policies have further expanded the radius of tourist travel, with hotel bookings for popular long-haul destinations increasing by more than 40% year-on-year. "In traditional long-haul destinations such as Yunnan, Xinjiang, and Sichuan, the booking volume for related products has increased by nearly 80%," said a person in charge at Tongcheng. At the same time, cost-effective domestic long-haul trips have a strong "substitution effect" on overseas destinations. Long-haul travel has further boosted the hotel market, with data from multiple platforms showing that the accommodation market during this year's holiday is characterized by "popular cities in short supply and widespread availability of quality accommodation". A person in charge of Ctrip Travel said that this year, in terms of accommodation, in addition to traditional popular destinations being in short supply, bookings for four-star hotels increased by 38.6% year-on-year, "especially in cities such as Guangzhou, where hotel nights increased by 25.0% thanks to the 139th Canton Fair Phase III opportunity". The outbound travel market is steadily recovering, with a significant increase in long-haul cross-border travel. Data from major platforms shows that during the May Day period, hotels in over three thousand cities globally saw bookings from Chinese tourists, with hotel bookings for popular outbound destinations increasing by 20%. Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore are among the top ten destinations for outbound travel. Of note is that the quality of outbound travel continues to improve, with 14 of the top 20 destinations with the highest growth being long-haul European, American, and Central Asian destinations with flight distances of over 4,000 kilometers, making long-haul deep outbound travel a new consumer trend. The popular trend of cultural and tourism travel has also driven a simultaneous increase in dining consumption. For example, HAIDILAO innovated and upgraded its dining experience during the May Day holiday with multiple scenes, focusing on mainstream demands such as family gatherings, evening consumption, and outdoor suburban living, creating differentiated themed stores in many places across the country to cater to the new trend of diversified holiday consumption. In addition, domestic travel became an effective engine driving holiday economic activity this May Day holiday, also boosting the sales of new tea drinks. During the holiday period, several brands of new tea drinks, such as CHABAIDAO, Xicha, and Bawang Chaji, experienced significant sales growth in provinces and cities popular for events and performances like Jiangsu, Beijing, Hubei, and Sichuan. During the May Day period, the fierce competition in the "Super League" is ongoing, with surrounding stores bustling due to the boost from sports events. On the day of the match, a CHABAIDAO store near the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center had continuous business from morning to night, selling nearly 1000 cups in a single day. The recently launched coffee products "1 litre lemon bubble Americano" and "1 litre love eating melon bubble Americano" were particularly popular among fans. Industry analysis believes that against the backdrop of consumption upgrades, holiday economic activity has shifted from traditional sightseeing consumption to experiential, quality-oriented, and cultural consumption. New tea drinks, relying on product innovation, scene adaptation, and nationwide layout, deeply integrating into diverse scenes such as cultural tourism, sports, and entertainment, have become an important force driving consumption growth. In the future, as the integration of culture and tourism deepens and consumption scenes continue to expand, local tea drink brands like CHABAIDAO are expected to play a greater role in expanding domestic demand, promoting consumption, and driving cultural exports. China Securities Co.,Ltd. research report pointed out that domestic travel during the May Day holiday remains strong, and tourism travel and sports event economy will become important drivers of domestic consumption demand throughout the year, with continuous supportive policies benefiting service consumption and the travel sector. Related concept stocks: NAYUKI (02150): During the period from May 1st to May 5th, the leader in healthy tea drinks, NAYUKI, saw a surge in sales at all its outlets nationwide, with sales increasing by over 700% compared to the previous period in many locations, and selling over a thousand cups of tea drinks in a single store in a day. The popular "Bossy Yangmei" comeback in its 11th year and the core-selling point of "low GI and high fiber" of the NAYUKI Health Fruit Tea series jointly led the sales charts, becoming the preferred beverage for holiday travel and gatherings. CHABAIDAO (02555): According to CHABAIDAO's performance report released during the performance briefing on March 27th, the company has recently deployed fully automatic coffee machines on a large scale in its stores and launched freshly ground coffee products, with a significant synergy between tea and coffee. At present, sales of coffee products have shown significant growth, with some stores selling over a hundred cups of coffee a day, significantly enhancing sales performance in breakfast and afternoon tea periods while effectively driving sales of existing tea products. Management stated that based on the current progress, the company maintains a positive outlook on the development of its coffee business and will firmly promote the expansion of the coffee business, with an expected coverage of 2,000 stores by the end of 2026, with the share of coffee cup sales in active stores rising to around 15%. Public information shows that the coffee product line has been launched in CHABAIDAO stores in several cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Beijing. HAIDILAO (06862): In early April, Morgan Stanley released a research report predicting that the share price of HAIDILAO (06862) will outperform the industry in the next 30 days. On the 10th, the company announced that Chairman and CEO Zhang Yong plans to increase his stake in the company within 12 months, with an investment of over 100 million yuan. The target price is 20 Hong Kong dollars with a "buy" rating. The firm noted that this is Zhang Yong's first purchase of shares since the company's IPO in 2018, which will support market sentiment and echo the firm's constructive view on HAIDILAO. HWORLD-S (01179): In early April, Citi released a research report stating that HWORLD-S (01179) has been included in the observation list for the next 30 days of upward catalysts, believing that the strong demand for leisure travel and inbound tourism, along with spring breaks in some mainland provinces until the end of April and the increase in geopolitical tensions and outbound transportation costs, will drive an increase in domestic tourism demand, supporting the continued improvement in revenue per available room (RevPAR) until the May Day holiday. The firm rated Huazhu Group as a "buy" with a target price of 47 Hong Kong dollars, based on an estimated enterprise value-to-EBITDA multiple of around 14 times for 2026.