Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | Japan will relax visa restrictions for Chinese travelers, with flight search popularity increasing by over 3 times. Focus on investment opportunities in the airline sector (including concept stocks)

According to Japan's Kyodo News, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono revealed at the ministerial "Japan-China High-Level People-to-People Exchange Consultation Mechanism" meeting on the 25th that Japan will relax the issuance conditions for tourist visas for Chinese citizens. Specifically, this includes the establishment of a 10-year tourist visa, and extending the allowable stay for group travel visas from 15 days to 30 days, to promote economic and cultural exchanges between China and Japan. These relaxation measures are expected to be implemented in the spring of 2025 after preparations are completed.

According to reporters from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, since the announcement, the search volume for round-trip flights to Japan during the Spring Festival has surged sharply on various online travel service platforms (OTA). Data provided by Tongcheng Travel shows that as of 5:30 PM on the 25th, the search popularity for round-trip flights from China to Japan during the Spring Festival holiday has increased more than threefold compared to the same period the previous day, and the inquiry volume for related travel products has also risen significantly.

The Qunar Index shows that on December 25th, the search index for flights to Tokyo and Osaka increased by 20% compared to the previous week, currently ranking as the second and third most popular outbound destinations. Some relatively less popular destinations, such as Hakodate, Otaru, and Izu, have seen hotel search volumes increase by more than double.

According to official data from the Japan National Tourism Organization, the estimated total number of visitors from mainland China to Japan in November 2024 is 546,300, a decrease of 27.3% compared to the same period in 2019, but an increase of 111.5% compared to the same period in 2023.

Data from Ctrip indicates that the current recovery rate of international flights between China and Japan is about 75% of the level in the same period of 2019, but this year, the number of travel orders from Chinese tourists to Japan has exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

In terms of hotel bookings, hotel reservations in Japan during the Spring Festival are also among the highest, alongside popular travel destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Kobe, and Fukuoka are particularly favored by tourists.

Ctrip's visa experts stated that the relaxation of visa requirements and the increase in travel time to Japan are expected to further stimulate mainland tourists to visit Japan. The newly established 10-year visa is likely to provide convenience for high-income and asset tourists, promoting their consumption in Japan; the extended stay for group travel visas will encourage travel agencies to offer longer itineraries and more city connections, increasing options for consumers traveling to Japan and allowing more time to visit less accessible tourist destinations.

Tongcheng Research Institute analyzes that Japan is one of the popular destinations for Chinese residents traveling abroad. The opening of a 10-year tourist visa for Chinese tourists also reflects the Japanese government's emphasis on promoting tourism and cultural exchanges between China and Japan. The implementation of visa-free, visa-on-arrival, and long-validity visa policies for major popular destinations will also change the consumption patterns of Chinese tourists traveling abroad, making it more convenient to visit the same destination country multiple times and providing tourists with the possibility to explore travel methods and less popular destinations.

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China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd. (01055): China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd. announced that in November 2024, the group's passenger capacity input (measured in available seat kilometers) increased by 7.18% year-on-year, with domestic and regional flights decreasing by 0.81% and 0.73% year-on-year, respectively, while international flights increased by 39.02% year-on-year; The passenger turnover (measured in revenue passenger kilometers) increased by 15.17% year-on-year, with domestic, regional, and international segments increasing by 5.44%, 10.92%, and 55.85% respectively; the passenger load factor was 84.81%, an increase of 5.88 percentage points year-on-year, with domestic, regional, and international segments increasing by 5.03, 8.10, and 9.16 percentage points respectively.

Air China (00753): Air China announced that in November 2024, the consolidated passenger turnover (measured in revenue passenger kilometers) of the company and its subsidiaries (group) increased year-on-year. Passenger capacity input (measured in available seat kilometers) increased by 12.9% year-on-year, and passenger turnover increased by 22.0% year-on-year. Among them, domestic passenger capacity input increased by 3.2% year-on-year, and passenger turnover increased by 10.8%; international passenger capacity input increased by 43.7%, and passenger turnover increased by 63.2% year-on-year.

China Civil Aviation Information Network (00696): China Civil Aviation Information Network released its mid-term performance for 2024, with total operating revenue of RMB 4.042 billion (same unit below), an increase of 22.2% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was RMB 1.367 billion, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year. In the first half of the year, the group's electronic travel distribution (ETD) system (including flight control system services (ICS) and computer reservation system services (CRS)) processed approximately 352 million system transactions for domestic and international airlines, an increase of approximately 24% year-on-year