Citi has issued a research report reiterating its "Buy" rating on both Trip.com Group and TONGCHENGTRAVEL. The firm set a target price of $82 for Trip.com's US-listed shares and HK$28 for TONGCHENGTRAVEL's H-shares. However, the bank believes Trip.com's stock price is unlikely to be significantly affected by the Spring Festival travel data due to an ongoing investigation by market regulators. Trip.com is scheduled to report its earnings after the US market closes on February 25.

According to data released by the Ministry of Transport, passenger traffic nationwide during the first 17 days of the Spring Festival travel period (February 2 to March 13) increased by 4% year-on-year. Broken down by mode of transport, railway, civil aviation, road, and waterway passenger volumes grew by 2.8%, 5.2%, 4%, and 18.4%, respectively. Performance during the first four days of the nine-day holiday period was even stronger, with total passenger traffic rising 6.8% year-on-year. Railway, civil aviation, road, and waterway travel increased by 3.5%, 7.7%, 6.8%, and 26.9%, respectively.

Citi views the domestic passenger traffic data as largely in line with expectations, noting that civil aviation and road transport outperformed the broader market, while railway figures were slightly weaker, possibly due to base effect issues. For outbound travel, the National Immigration Administration estimated that the average daily number of cross-border travelers during the nine-day holiday would reach 2.05 million, representing a 14.1% year-on-year increase. This projection remains subject to observation, as pre-holiday forecasts from immigration authorities have historically tended to be optimistic and may be influenced by recent events in Japan.