SANYA, May 7. /TASS/. Hainan's Sanya along with Chengdu (southwestern Sichuan province) and Shanghai was listed as one the most popular tourist destinations in China during the past May holidays, according to the report conducted by the largest Chinese online travel agency Ctrip.

Over the five day holiday weekend in China, the authorities recorded an increase in the activity of citizens in terms of making tourist trips to various regions of the country, associated with an improvement in the epidemiological situation. Sanya, which is one of the most favorite resorts among the Chinese, also enjoyed a significant influx of tourists. Only on the first day of the May weekend in a popular "The End of the World" park the number of visitors increased from 300 to 3,500 people.

The occupancy rate of hotels in the city and surrounding areas, the report indicates, reached about 60%. However, it is not yet possible to restore the tourist flow at the city's main tourist attractions amid the existing quarantine measures, which envisage the restriction of the daily number of visitors to 30% of the usual level.

According to the news agency, the island’s tourism industry has welcomed about 1.3 million tourists, about 60% of them visited panoramic attractions — parks, forest and coastal recreation areas, volcanoes, pagodas. According to estimates, over 5,000 people made purchases in Hainan's duty free stores over five days, spending 298 million yuan ($ 42 million).

By 2025, the Chinese government intends to create an "international center for tourism and consumption" on 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. 

Last year more than 83 million Chinese and foreign tourists visited the island. The tourism industry's revenue on Hainan increased by 11% reaching 105 bln yuan ( about $14.89 bln).