Citigroup: Expects strong demand for travel during the National Day Golden Week, maintains "buy" rating on Ctrip and Tongcheng.

Citigroup released a research report stating that the Ministry of Commerce and other departments have issued new documents to attract more inbound tourists and optimize student holiday arrangements. The latter proposes to explore the implementation of a spring break and fall break system for primary and secondary schools, as well as shorten the duration of winter and summer vacations. If the policy is implemented, it could significantly increase long-haul family travel. In addition, this year's National Day Golden Week holiday will be 8 days in total, one day longer than last year, and the bank expects strong demand for travel during this period, benefiting long-haul and outbound travel. The China State Railway Group predicts that during the 12-day railway transport period, passenger volume will reach 219 million trips, averaging 18.25 million trips per day; compared to last year's transport period of 10 days, there were 177 million trips, averaging 17.7 million trips per day. Citigroup maintains a "buy" rating on Ctrip and Tongcheng, with target prices of $85 and HK$28 respectively.