These two stocks could be the best bets as the delta variant impedes global travel, traders say

The Transportation Security Administration in the U.S. screened more than 10 million travelers over the July Fourth holiday weekend, but a different story is emerging overseas.

Parts of Asia, Europe and Australia have new lockdowns and reimposed travel restrictions due to the fast-spreading delta variant of the coronavirus. This could impede the comeback for the travel industry in the second half of the year.

CNBC's "Trading Nation" asked its traders for their top travel picks to hedge against that risk.

"In a situation like this, you want to be more diversified so I would stay away from the hotels and a lot of the cruises," said Delano Saporu, founder of New Street Advisors, on Tuesday. "Look more for the point of source which is a booking platform."

Booking sites such as TripAdvisor and Expedia have rallied well off their 52-week lows, up around 115% from troughs set last July. However, they are also down sharply from peaks set in March.

"I like TripAdvisor here for a few reasons. One, that first point of contact for people and two, diversification of their businesses, right? So, they have the experiences and dining, they have different areas where they can have a revenue source," said Saporu.

TripAdvisor is up nearly 40% this year. It fell 2% on Tuesday.

Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer, also said it pays to be selective in the space.

"What's equally important to us is how these stocks behave on the down cycle, not only when the trade is working. The trade isn't working right now. And we like that Hilton has been able to keep pace on the upside and hold up much better when the group and the industry is trading lower," Wald said during the same segment.

Comparing Hilton specifically to Marriott, Wald said the former is the best of the group. Hilton has outperformed Marriott this year and saw a more modest pullback from its 52-week high.

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