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<Research>CLSA: CN Probe into TRIP.COM-S Not Necessarily Conducive to HWORLD-S, Atour
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Regarding China's State Administration for Market Regulation's antitrust investigation into TRIP.COM-S (09961.HK), investors were curious whether it might benefit chain hotels like HWORLD-S (01179.HK) and Atour (ATAT.US) due to a potential reduction in commission rates of online travel agencies (OTAs), and CLSA said in its report that it is "not necessarily" how it will turn out.

From CLSA's perspective, the network effects of online travel platforms are so powerful that even if commissions charged to hotels are reduced, a structural shift in booking volumes to the hotel groups' own applications is still unlikely. Hotels might even pass on the savings from online travel platforms as lower room prices, which could lead to a decrease in revenue per available room (RevPAR).

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Overall, CLSA anticipates that the Chinese hotel industry will embrace more hotel openings (including independent hotels), though the positive growth trend in average RevPAR may be shortened. The broker currently favors Atour over HWORLD-S, as HWORLD-S' earnings are more sensitive to RevPAR trends.
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