Recently, as the yen weakens more and more, domestic travel stocks are showing weakness despite increasing demand for travel to Japan. Analysts say that despite the recovery of the travel industry, expectations for good performance have been reflected in stock prices in advance.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 20th, Hana Tour fell 7% this year, while Mode Tour rose 13%. Both stocks are sluggish compared to the KOSPI index (up 17%).
This stock trend is noteworthy in that travel stocks are stocks with high expectations for reopening due to the Corona 19 endemic (endemic). Travel stocks have been seen as the biggest beneficiaries of a recovery in travel demand, along with airline stocks and duty-free shop stocks. In particular, there were high expectations that investor sentiment would recover in earnest as China’s reopening overlapped at the beginning of the year. However, the effect of China’s reopening was less than expected, and it had to return the increase.
Recently, as the value of the won per yen has risen rapidly, the craze for traveling to Japan continues. The won per yen, which was around 1,000 won per 100 yen at the end of April this year, is currently in the early 900 yen range, rising to the highest level in eight years since June 2015 (100 yen = 880 won). The previous day, the price of won per yen rose to 890 won per yen during the day. Kim Yu-mi, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, predicted that the value of the won per yen will fluctuate in the 900 yen range this year.
Concerns about the package tour market and valuation (stock price level compared to performance) are taking root as travel stocks are unable to enjoy the ‘Japan tour craze effect’.
However, there are opinions that it is메이저놀이터 time to raise interest in that the industry is rebounding. Two major domestic travel agencies (Hana Tour and Mode Tour) both turned profitable in the first quarter of this year thanks to the recovery of demand for travel to Japan.
Hana Tour has overhauled its mobile platform and is expanding its customer base by releasing packages targeting various age groups. Woo Jae-hyuk, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, “Hana Tour has improved its cost structure and strengthened its online capabilities while enduring Corona 19.”
Modetour is expanding its market share by concentrating on relatively inexpensive package sales. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Modetour has extremely controlled costs, but it is expected to see cost savings in the future. Hana Tour and Lotte Tourism Development recorded a deficit of 100 billion won every year during the corona period, but Mode Tour only made a loss of around 20 billion won every year.
For Lotte Tourism Development, the number of foreign (Chinese) tourists visiting Jeju Island is more important than the trip to Japan itself. Major business sites include Jeju Dream Tower Complex Resort, Dream Tower Casino, and Grand Hyatt Jeju. The business sector that accounts for the largest portion of Lotte Tour Development’s sales is the hotel (64.1%) as of last year. Following hotels, casinos account for 23.8%, and travel and others 12.1%.
Na Seung-du , a researcher at SK Securities, said, “The number of foreign tourists visiting Jeju Island was between 2,000 and 4,000 per month at the time of the corona virus, but starting with 16,000 in January this year, the number is approaching 50,000 in May . With the performance of the division improving, we expect to turn to the black from the second quarter of this year.”
Meanwhile, Booking Holdings in the U.S., which has the largest market capitalization among global travel stocks, has risen 21 percent this year alone. Booking Holdings has benefited greatly from Endemic as a global online platform. China’s Trip.com, which received attention as a beneficiary of China’s reopening, rose only 1% this year.