Tourism-related stocks saw their gains widen during afternoon trading. At the time of writing, Trip.com Group-S (09961) rose 5.02% to HK$431, H World Group-S (01179) advanced 4.28% to HK$42.36, Meituan-W (03690) increased 2.84% to HK$88.75, and Tongcheng Travel (00780) climbed 2.82% to HK$18.96.

The upcoming Labor Day holiday has prompted the tourism market to begin warming up in advance. With the Qingming Festival holiday ending just one month before Labor Day, the consumption activity observed during the Qingming period provides a significant reference for expectations around the upcoming break. According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the three-day Qingming holiday saw 135 million domestic tourist trips nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%, with total tourism spending reaching 61.367 billion yuan, up 6.6% compared to the same period last year.

BOC International noted that the Qingming holiday partially demonstrated that flexible holiday arrangements can help unleash pent-up travel and consumption demand. This year’s Labor Day holiday, with flexible scheduling, is also expected to enable longer vacation periods. Data from Tongcheng Travel indicates that the popularity seen during the Qingming holiday is likely to continue, with search热度 for Labor Day travel products increasing by more than 320% during the Qingming period. Consumer trends such as purchasing air tickets in advance amid expectations of rising fuel costs, as well as "reverse tourism" to avoid peak travel crowds, have gained significant traction.