As international borders open after two years, Money Management investigates which travel stocks have been the best performers in a turbulent time.
Since the first lockdown on 12 March, 2020, the best-performing stock was Corporate Travel Management which had returned 178% compared to returns of 43.7% by the ASX 200.
This was followed by Sydney Airport, which returned 47.3%, Qantas which returned 46.9% and Webjet which returned 44.3%, all outperforming the ASX 200. Meanwhile, Flight Centre returned 14%.
Performance of travel stocks versus ASX 200 since 12 March, 2020
Over the past six months, the best-performing travel stock had been Flight Centre which had returned 41% compared to losses of 1.9% by the ASX 200 over the same period.
Qantas had returned 22.1%, Webjet had returned 15.8%, Sydney Airport had returned 13.2% and Corporate Travel Management had returned 9.8%
Performance of travel stocks versus ASX 200 over six months to 23 February
Russel Chesler, head of investments and capital markets at VanEck, said: “The opening of Australia’s international borders to international tourism is long awaited after almost two years of no arrivals.
“We can expect to see travel stocks and consumer discretionary companies benefit and some could head towards their pre-pandemic level within months as their revenues improve.
“We can expect to see more business travel in Australian cities with our borders now open and greater levels optimistic business travel occurring as fears of catching COVID-19 infections dissipate. This will benefit companies like Qantas, Virgin and Corporate Travel Management.”
