Passengers check in at Chongqingbei Railway Station in Chongqing, southwest China, Feb. 17, 2021. Wednesday marks the last day of the Spring Festival holiday. As railway stations entered the travel rush of returning passengers, Chongqing railroad department took messures to ensure that passengers travel easily and safely. (Xinhua/Huang Wei)

Chinese online travel service Trip.com Group shares rose 4.55 percent in price to close at HK$280.2 ($36.06) on its first trading day at the Hong Kong Stock Market, reflecting investors' optimism about the fast recovery of tourism in China.

An analyst said that more US-listed Chinese mainland companies with considerable market valuations will return to Hong Kong or the mainland's A-share market in 2021.

Ahead of the coming "hottest" May Day holidays, Trip.com Group debuted in Hong Kong on Monday in its secondary listing, raising about HK$8.5 billion.

The company plans to fund the expansion of its one-stop travel offerings and improve its user experience, invest in technology to bolster its leading market position, according to the company's press release.

The sound performance of Trip.com Group reflects market confidence in the rapid recovery of the country's tourism industry duo to the breakout of the pandemic. On Monday, tourism shares closed higher across the board, with Guilin Travel Co rising by the daily 10-percent limit to close at 7.57 yuan ($1.16) and Zhangjiajie Tourism Group also up by daily limit to 6.7 yuan.

Xu Xiaolei, marketing manager at China's CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times on Monday that the outlook for tourism recovery is optimistic, with domestic travel this year expected to fare better than 2019.

About 200 million Chinese are ready to hit the road for the coming five-day May Day holidays, which are expected to be the hottest Golden Week since the outbreak of the pandemic, a Trip.com Group report showed.

This year, intra-provincial and long-distance travel may see explosive growth, with about 70 percent of consumers choosing intra-provincial trips, according to Trip.com Group. Shanghai, Beijing, Sanya in South China's Hainan Province and Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province were among the most popular destinations.

"However, explosive growth in domestic travel is partially due to the suspension of international travel," Xu said. Industry players are eager to see the resumption of cross-border travel but there is still no timetable, given the severe pandemic situation in some countries and their slow progress in vaccination.

Dong Dengxin, director of the Financial Securities Institute at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times on Monday that the good performance of Trip.com, compared with the lackluster debuts of Baidu and Bilibili in Hong Kong, also reflected reasonable pricing. Trimp.com was priced at HK$268 per offered share, a discount of about 20 percent from its maximum price of HK$333.

Baidu has slumped about 15 percent to HK$210.60 since its debut in Hong Kong on March 23.

Dismissing price volatility of many returned tech firms, Dong said that more US-listed Chinese companies with valuations above $100 million are expected to return home amid risks brought about by China-US political friction.