The extended nine-day Spring Festival holiday commenced on February 15th. During this lengthy break, a staple of holiday socializing, the Spring Festival movie releases, once again captured significant public attention. While the 2026 lineup may not have generated the same initial buzz as the previous year, it distinguished itself from past seasons dominated by comedies by offering a diverse array of genres. For instance, director Zhang Yimou's "Awakening Silence" presented a fresh take on the modern spy thriller genre. "Blade of the Guardians: Desert Storm" achieved sustained box office growth with its visceral martial arts narrative. Familiar franchises like "Pegasus 3" and "Boonie Bears: The Everlasting Journey" satisfied audience nostalgia, allowing viewers to find the festive spirit in familiar characters.
This genre diversification is merely one visible change. Delving deeper reveals greater innovation within the industry: the film economy, a powerful engine for stimulating domestic demand, is unleashing a stronger multiplier effect on entertainment consumption. A recent statistic from the China Film Administration powerfully illustrates this: in 2025, the total output value of China's film industry chain reached 817.259 billion yuan, with a box office pull coefficient of 1:15.77, meaning for every 1 yuan in box office revenue, nearly 16 yuan in related industrial output was generated. The economic reach of film now extends far beyond cinema walls, encompassing location tourism, IP derivative development, dining and transportation linked to movie-going, and immersive experiential consumption.
Anticipating this industry trend, DAMAI ENT (01060) formally extended its long-term strategy last year to focus on "Real-World Entertainment" and integrated its DAMAI App into a super-portal covering over 40 categories including film, live performances, sports, and cultural tourism. In retrospect, DAMAI ENT's initiative involves upgrading relatively isolated content products like films and shows into scenario hubs that connect diverse "Real-World Entertainment" consumption. This not only stimulates the multiplier effect in entertainment spending but also aligns with policy expectations to accelerate the cultivation of new growth points in service consumption.
**Beyond Box Office: How AI + Cultural Tourism Amplifies Film's Multiplier Effect** A key characteristic of the 2026 Spring Festival season was the simultaneous release of franchise sequels and diverse new films. Behind this rich supply, DAMAI ENT participated in 4 of the 6 major holiday releases through primary distribution, co-production, or joint investment, claiming the top 4 spots on the real-time box office chart. "Pegasus 3," leveraging its mature IP foundation and resonant themes, topped the chart. "Awakening Silence" broke through audience segments with its hardcore national security theme, successfully blending mainstream values with commercial appeal. Notably, "Blade of the Guardians," initially less favored by the market, saw its daily box office exceed 100 million yuan for three consecutive days after release, becoming the highest-grossing wuxia film in Chinese cinema history, with final票房 projected to surpass 1.5 billion yuan.
With its core strategy centered on a "Real-World Entertainment" ecosystem, DAMAI ENT is not merely observing box office success but actively collaborating to create value beyond ticket sales. For example, "Awakening Silence," filmed entirely in Shenzhen, transformed local landmarks like the Gangxia North Metro Station "Eye of Shenzhen" and the Hongshan 6979 commercial district into cinematic spy thriller settings, sparking a tourist pilgrimage. To convert this traffic into sustained engagement, the production partnered with Baidu Maps to create a "Silence Awakening Shenzhen Citywalk Route." Reports indicated significant visitor increases of over 10% for businesses near these filming locations during the holiday peak, including visits from Hong Kong tourists specifically seeking out the movie scenes. This blurring of lines between the screen and real-world experience exemplifies the integrated value of "film + cultural tourism."
Films are no longer isolated products but are evolving into value hubs connecting tourism, dining, and merchandise. This logic underpins DAMAI ENT's innovative integration of its app into a multi-category portal. Recent developments show the continued influence of this ecosystem strategy. For instance, the recent integration of the Qwen AI app into the DAMAI App enables a seamless process from film recommendation and smart seat selection to payment and ticketing. Subsequently, Qwen extended a promotional campaign, allowing users to instruct the AI to purchase movie tickets, book hotels, and arrange travel. Positioned advantageously within this ecosystem, DAMAI ENT is well-placed to capitalize on the prosperity of AI-driven "Real-World Entertainment."
If the Qwen integration represents the "last mile" of AI empowering real-world entertainment, the deep synergy within the Alibaba ecosystem provides the foundational support. As a core portal for Alibaba's "AI Life Assistant," Qwen is integrated with services like Taobao, Amap, and Fliggy. DAMAI ENT, as a rare platform within Alibaba covering diverse categories like film, performances, and sports, naturally becomes a key scenario for AI application in entertainment consumption. From single ticket purchases to full itinerary planning and derivative spending, DAMAI is leveraging Alibaba's AI capabilities to help users become comprehensive "Real-World Entertainment" experiencers. This ecosystem support not only strengthens DAMAI's position as a scenario hub but also positions it as a direct beneficiary of the new era of "Task-Oriented AI"红利.
**The Impending Realization of Long-Term "Real-World Entertainment" Strategy** A policy briefing on February 6th highlighted plans to accelerate the cultivation of new growth points in service consumption, signaling a concrete move from planning to implementation in stimulating domestic demand. Drawing parallels with developed nations like the US and Japan, the evolution of service consumption typically progresses from "survival-oriented" to "quality-oriented" and "experience-oriented." Currently, service consumption accounts for only 45%-50% of resident expenditure in China, significantly lower than the 65%-70% range in the US and Japan, indicating substantial room for growth in penetration and market maturity. The new policy direction is expected to create significant institutional红利 for unlocking this potential.
Within this context, DAMAI ENT is strategically positioned in the main channel of service consumption expansion and upgrade towards quality and experience. The company is poised to benefit deeply from these structural opportunities catalyzed by policy.
In terms of business layout, as a leader in "Real-World Entertainment," DAMAI ENT's operations span film, live performances, and IP derivatives. In film, the company's content investment strategy has become more稳健, as evidenced by its successful backing of the top 4 films this Spring Festival, demonstrating sharp investment judgment. More importantly, as an industry leader, DAMAI is pioneering "film+" models, transforming the momentum of successful films into broader consumption动能 and leading the industry in stimulating the entertainment consumption multiplier effect.
In the high-growth live performance sector, DAMAI maintains a dominant position. It ranks in the top tier for ticketing, boasts leading coverage of major events, and is deeply involved in ticketing and promotion for large-scale concerts, plays, musicals, and immersive experiences. During the Spring Festival, the number of performance projects on its platform increased by 27% year-on-year. This rich, high-quality supply effectively met strong market demand, with data showing a 65% YoY increase in Livehouse attendance and over 40% growth for immersive venue attendance.
Concurrently, DAMAI's布局in integrated cultural tourism scenarios yielded significant results—offering over 1,200 tourism service items during the holiday, collaborating on more than 100 folk activities and lantern festivals across the country, attracting tens of thousands of participants. By offering tailored benefits like "Lantern Festival + Movie" dual ticket packages and folk activity vouchers, DAMAI effectively guided users from single movie viewings to extended holiday tourism experiences, accelerating the shift from solitary consumption to diverse, immersive, and one-stop experiential upgrades. Furthermore, its customized体验and popular travel products provided一站式booking services, addressing pain points associated with attending events during long holidays.
Amid the global trend of rising demand and prices in the live performance market, DAMAI is expected to continue expanding its upward potential through content self-production, overseas ticketing system expansion, and category diversification.
As for its IP derivative business, which holds significant untapped potential, Alibaba's AliFish has become the world's sixth-largest and China's top licensing agent. Operating on an "IP2B2C" model, it deeply manages hundreds of premium IPs like Sanrio and Pokémon, continually adding new popular IP licenses to contribute earnings elasticity.
Reflecting on the 2026 Spring Festival season, DAMAI ENT's involvement in the top 4 films confirms its core position in the cinematic ecosystem. Beyond box office, this comprehensive entertainment platform has evolved, through forward-thinking ecosystem布局, into a key force driving the integration and implementation of "Real-World Entertainment." Transitioning from content products to scenario portals, and from picking hits to stimulating multiplier effects, DAMAI ENT has broken free from traditional constraints. Its core certainty lies in accelerating its role as essential industry infrastructure that fully circulates the value of "Real-World Entertainment." This is likely the key to understanding the company's long-term value. Naturally, entertainment consumption is susceptible to macroeconomic conditions, content supply cycles, and policy changes. DAMAI ENT must continue optimizing its content judgment and cross-business operational efficiency to navigate market fluctuations.