Bank of China International: The summer cultural tourism market is steady, and the scale of entry into the country continues to expand

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Bank of China International released a research report saying that summer travel data is showing steady progress. Looking ahead to the next two festivals, travel demand may be further released, and the bank maintains a stronger industry rating than the market. The overall performance of the summer cultural tourism market is steady, moderate and positive. From January to August 2026, border inspection authorities across the country recorded 499 million visitors, an increase of 8.7% over the previous year. Along with the continuous optimization of visa-free policies, the restoration of inbound passenger flow is expected to further support consumption in hotels, scenic spots, transportation and ports. The bank recommended focusing on targets related to the travel chain, hotel chains, tax exemption, catering, local lifestyle, exhibitions and entertainment industry chains.

Bank of China International's main views are as follows:

Market review & industry dynamic data

In the first two trading weeks, the Shanghai Composite Index had a cumulative decline of 1.62% to close at 3888.11; the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 had a cumulative decline of 2.15%, closing at 4510.16; the GEM had a cumulative decline of 2.99%, closing at 3322.04; and the Shanghai Composite 50 Index had a cumulative decline of 1.88% to close at 2868.32. The social services sector rose 0.33%, ranking 7th in Shenwan's ranking of 31 first-level industries. The social services sector outperformed the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index by 2.48 percentage points. The social services sub-sector and the travel retail sector rose 2 times. The increases and decreases were education (+6.52%), tourism and scenic spots (+1.00%), hotels and restaurants (-2.22%), professional services (-3.04%), and travel retail (-3.15%), respectively.

According to flight managers, the number of passenger flights carried out by civil aviation nationwide during 8.31-9.06 was 108,122, a decrease of 9.48% from last week, or 104.86% of the same period in '19. The number of international flights was 13,250, recovering to 87.91% in 2019, down about 2.92% from last week.

Biweekly highlights

The summer cultural tourism market is steady and improving. According to Ctrip's 2026 summer travel insight, the share of long-term domestic travel orders this year rose to 32%, and the proportion of travel across provinces exceeded 55%, and tourists spent more time and budget on farther destinations. Tongcheng Travel's “2026 Summer Travel Consumption Inventory” mentioned that the overall domestic cultural tourism market is stable this summer, and that mass tourism consumption continues to upgrade. According to China Railway Group data, from July 1 to August 31, 2026, railway transportation sent a total of 954 million passengers, an increase of 1.2% over the previous year. According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, during the summer travel season from July to August, civil aviation across the country carried 151 million passengers, an average of 2.442 million passengers per day, an increase of 2.9% over the previous year. Overall, the performance of the summer cultural tourism market is steady, moderate and positive.

The number of people entering and leaving the country increased year over year 26, and visa-free entry led to the restoration of cross-border travel. According to data from the State Administration of Immigration, from January to August 2026, border inspection agencies across the country carried out a total of 499 million entry/exit inspections, an increase of 8.7% over the previous year; of these, 61.287 million were foreigners, an increase of 19.5% over the previous year. Of the foreigners entering the country, 23.72 million were visa-free, accounting for 77.6%, an increase of 26.8% over the previous year. Foreigners accounted for about 12.22% of the country's total number of entrants and exits. According to Flying Pig's “2026 Summer Travel Express”, this year's summer inbound travel performance was quite impressive, and the number of summer inbound ticket orders increased 197% over the same period last year. With the continuous optimization of the visa-free policy, the restoration of inbound passenger flow is expected to further support consumption in hotels, scenic spots, transportation and ports.

Investment advice

The summer cultural tourism travel market has come to an end, and overall performance is improving steadily. We look forward to the upcoming Double Festival to further catalyze the release of travel demand. The bank suggests focusing on the travel chain and industry-related companies: Tongcheng Travel, Huangshan Travel, Lijiang Co., Ltd., Songcheng Performing Arts, Lingnan Holdings, Zhongxin Travel, China Youth Travel, Haichang Ocean Park, Tianmu Lake, Changbai Mountain, etc.; the chain hotel brands Jinjiang Hotel, First Travel Hotel, Junting Hotel, etc. benefiting from the recovery of commercial passenger flows and high-end upgrades; it is recommended to focus on Cree International, Foreign Service Holdings, and Beijing manpower; the recovery of the cross-border travel market is expected to accelerate the introduction of the airport's intra-city and duty-free new duty-free policies. China Zhongfeu, Wangfujing; restaurant industry representatives Tongqinglou and Michelle Group ; Yuyuan Co., Ltd., a long-established local consumer brand; exhibition brands Miao Huizhan and Lansheng shares, which have benefited from business recovery; Fengshang Culture and Dafeng Industrial, the performing arts industry chain companies.

The main risks faced by ratings

The recovery in travel demand was insufficient, the recovery of the industry fell short of expectations, and the implementation and implementation of policies fell short of expectations.