Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport

Tracking Traffic

Focusing on Asian logistics, transportation, and travel companies

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Pair Trades Update: 'Want to See a Dead Body?' (January 7 2021)

December-January Travel Data Confirm Stalled Domestic Recovery; Weak LNY Unlikely to Help

Trip.com Secondary Listing - Probably Needs to Correct

Dreams Deferred: Looks Like Lunar New Year Travel Demand May Be Lost

Trip.com Q320 Results Met Guidance, But Q420 Guidance Suggests Very Slow Recovery

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Chinese Tourism: Macau's Slog | Golden Week Fails to Shine | LNY 2021 At Risk?

Gravity Works As WeWork Doesn't; Now Plan B

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport, Tracking Traffic

Daniel Hellberg

Equity Bottom-Up

<section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/179/973/original/BANNER-TourDec20.png?1608779882" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="179973"></figure></section>Outbound Chinese tourism activity remained dormant in November. Macau's recovery slowed, and the appearance of a new variant of the Covid19 virus suggests a potential recovery in Chinese outbound travel may be pushed back until at least the middle of 2021, maybe later. To our surprise, the recovery in domestic Chinese tourism also appears to have lost steam in November. Passenger counts at the three major national airlines fell YoY, and overall activity was well below that of October. Chinese consumers remain cautious towards discretionary travel. We believe Chinese travel demand will recover gradually in 2021, and that the recovery could gain momentum in the second half of the year. Still, the emergence of a new strain of the virus will likely cap outbound travel in the near-term, and it also appears the rebound in domestic demand is moderating. For now, we would avoid pricey travel-related stocks like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/trip-com-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:180:1" rel="noopener">Trip.com (TCOM US)</a>.

Outbound Chinese tourism activity remained dormant in November. Macau's recovery slowed, and the appearance of a new variant of the Covid19 virus suggests a potential recovery in Chinese outbound travel may be pushed back until at least the middle of 2021, maybe later. To our surprise, the recovery in domestic Chinese tourism also appears to have lost steam in November. Passenger counts at the three major national airlines fell YoY, and overall activity was well below that of October. Chinese consumers remain cautious towards discretionary travel. We believe Chinese travel demand will recover gradually in 2021, and that the recovery could gain momentum in the second half of the year. Still, the emergence of a new strain of the virus will likely cap outbound travel in the near-term, and it also appears the rebound in domestic demand is moderating. For now, we would avoid pricey travel-related stocks like Trip.com (TCOM US).

TRACKING TRAFFIC/Chinese Tourism: Domestic Recovery Lost Steam in November