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More than 64 mln tourists visited China's Hainan in 2020

By 2025, the authorities have set the task of turning Hainan into an "international center for tourism and consumption"

HAIKOU, January 27. /TASS/. China's Hainan received 64.55 million Chinese and foreign tourists in 2020, reported the Hainan Daily.

These figures are 22.2% lower than the pre-pandemic indicators: in 2019, 83 million tourists visited the province, 1.42 million of which were foreign citizens.

According to the "Hainan Daily", despite the negative consequences of the epidemic, the region's tourism sector has shown a rapid pace of recovery. The industry's revenues in 2020 amounted to 87.286 billion yuan (about $ 13.5 billion), which is 16.8% lower year-on-year. In 2019, Hainan's tourism revenues reached 105 billion yuan ($ 16.24 billion).

According to Hainan's Office for Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports, about 352 million Chinese and foreign tourists visited the province during the thirteenth five-year plan (2016-2020). During this period, the region's revenues from the tourist flow exceeded 436.4 billion yuan ($ 67.4 billion). The development of tourism on the island made it possible to provide jobs for about 779,000 people, as well as employ more than 1.3 million people in related industries. More than 1.5 million people employed in agriculture have also benefited from promoting the province's tourism industry, the agency said in a report.

By 2025, the authorities have set the task of turning Hainan into an "international center for tourism and consumption". The Chinese island is often referred to as "Eastern Hawaii": natural landscapes, tropical forests, a developed hotel network combined with beaches and a coastline of more than 1,900 kilometers draw guests from the most remote parts of the world.

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