Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co., Ltd. released a research report stating that the 2026 Spring Festival travel season is set for high growth, benefiting from an extended 9-day holiday without shift adjustments and visa-free policies. Civil aviation is expected to handle a record 95 million passenger trips. Longer stays are effectively increasing per-customer spending, with inbound tourism (growing over fourfold) and long-haul outbound travel becoming key growth drivers. The investment focus should shift from merely tracking passenger volume to analyzing structural trends, targeting companies with cross-border business flexibility and unique emotional appeal. Recommended sectors include tourist attractions, exhibitions and sports events, human resources services, hotels, and duty-free shopping. Shenwan Hongyuan's key views are as follows: The extended 9-day holiday policy for the 2026 Spring Festival has been implemented with 92.9% public satisfaction. Both supply and demand are strong in the transportation sector. Civil aviation is projected to handle 95 million passenger trips over the 40-day Spring Festival period (up 5.3% year-on-year), with domestic airlines planning to operate 657,000 flights (up 5% YoY). The proportion of passengers traveling more than twice has risen to 13%, the highest level since 2023. Railways are expected to transport 539 million passengers (up 5% YoY), with peak daily capacity exceeding 14,000 trains (up 5.3% YoY). The first travel peak is expected around February 7, with pre-holiday peaks concentrated on February 13-14 and the return peak around February 23. Travel is predominantly for family reunions, but the proportion of tourist travel has increased significantly. Airfare and rail ticket prices have normalized, with prices for popular routes rising during peak periods. The extended holiday benefits and precise capacity allocation are expected to establish a high-growth cycle characterized by volume growth and quality improvement, providing a strong start for annual tourism consumption recovery. The domestic tourism market shows diversified growth and sustained vitality. Families with children account for 39% of air travel users (up from last year), and seniors aged 60+ represent 19%. The average booking price for family rooms is 9% higher than other room types. Family travel is driving demand for larger, more private accommodations like standalone villas, with villa bookings up 77% YoY during the winter vacation. Travel preferences vary by demographic: families with children aged 0-12 prefer tropical destinations, middle school families favor cultural experiences like city walks, those born in the 1980s are the main group taking extended holidays (48% of bookings), while those born in the 1990s prefer off-peak travel. Both warm southern destinations and northern ice-snow attractions are popular. Southern cities like Shantou and Jieyang have emerged as dark horse destinations. Hotel bookings in Hainan (post-customs closure) and cultural cities like Huangshan in Anhui and Jingdezhen in Jiangxi have doubled. Structural expansion of family and senior travel is directly driving demand for high-quality accommodations and accelerating the shift from traditional hotspots to emerging destinations, creating a diversified market boom. Outbound travel has experienced explosive growth, with bookings up nearly 40% YoY in recent weeks. Destination patterns have shifted, with Southeast Asia accounting for nearly 50% of international flights. Thailand has returned to the top destination, while flights to Malaysia and Vietnam have grown rapidly. The share of East Asia flights has decreased by 8.3 percentage points to 25.9%, with flights to Japan down over 40% and cancellation rates for Japan-bound flights reaching 36%. Student travelers lead at 23%, followed by families (over 20%) and seniors (18%). Different groups show distinct destination preferences, with destinations beyond the 8-hour flight circle accounting for over 60% of travel. Turkey and New Zealand show leading growth rates. Outbound consumption is shifting toward differentiated experiences like glacier hiking and aurora viewing, with travelers from lower-tier cities becoming a new growth driver. Optimized traveler demographics and expanded travel ranges are making differentiated long-haul experiences the core driver of cross-border tourism growth. Risk factors include a downturn in the macroeconomic environment, policy implementation falling short of expectations, and intensified industry competition.