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Hainan authorities urge to support tourism industry amid coronavirus

The province's governor said that a more flexible approach is needed in this situation

HAIKOU, February 20. /TASS/. Hainan provincial authorities urged to support tourism sector on the island which is facing difficulties at present amid coronavirus outbreak, said the province's governor Shen Xiaoming. 

"Hainan has a huge tourist potential. Currently many tourist attractions and service industry objects are facing difficulties due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, some are even closing down", the Sanya Daily newspaper quoted the governor as saying. 

According to the governor, in such conditions it is vital to draft a set of measures aimed at supporting the industry: a more flexible approach is needed in providing companies with loans, optimizing the insurance mechanisms. 

According to the Sanya Daily, this week Shen Xiaoming visited the island's key tourist areas to personally observe the implementation of the local measures to combat the epidemic, as well as to assess the impact of the outbreak of coronavirus on the province's tourism industry.  According to the newspaper, the governor also visited one of the provincial hospitals, where patients infected with a new type of coronavirus are being treated, and thanked the staff of the medical institution for helping the patients and for their efforts in tackling the pneumonia outbreak.

By 2025, the Chinese government intends to create an "international center for tourism and consumption" on the Island of Hainan. In order to do so, the "Eastern Hawaii" with their unique natural landscapes, thick rainforests and great climate will establish a developed network of hotels, which blend perfectly with white sandy beaches stretching along the coastline. The combination of an exotic subtropical nature and a modern eco-friendly infrastructure will boost tourist inflow to the island from the most distant parts of the world. 

In 2019, at least 83 million Chinese and foreign tourists visited the island, which is by 8% more than the previous year figures. Last year the Hainan province increased its revenue from tourism industry by 11%. 

On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities reported to the World Health Organization about an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, an economic and industrial megalopolis with a population of 11 million.

The virus was identified on January 7 as 2019-nCoV. Apart from China, 29 other countries and territories, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases.

The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on February 11 that the organization gave the novel coronavirus an official name of COVID-19.

According to the latest reports, over 75,770 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in China and other countries. The virus’ death toll has hit the number of 2,130, yet more than 16,880 patients have recovered from the disease.

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