SANYA, February 16. /TASS/. Hainan's Sanya has taken a number of effective measures to diversify tourism this winter. These efforts have yielded tangible results even with the continued intensified measures to counter the pandemic, according to www.hinews.cn.
"During the first four days during the weekend on the occasion of the New Year holidays, themed walks and excursions with a detailed sightseeing program were especially in high demand among tourists," said a representative of the local department of culture and tourism. As he specified, many guests of the island, as in previous years, preferred standard sightseeing routes, but recently the popularity of individual car trips has been constantly growing.
According to official estimates, on February 10-13, Sanya received more than 370,000 tourists, which is much higher than last year, when Hainan introduced particularly tough measures to fight against coronavirus. This time, about 55% of hotel rooms in the city (and in some areas up to 70%) were already booked in the first days of national holidays, which last a week and end on February 18.
According to the local travel agencies, more and more visitors prefer sailing on sea yachts. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people rushed to explore the landscape sights and traditional villages located within the city, which are very popular among tourists because of their exoticism and unique cultural features. As noted by the local administration, the flow of tourists in just a few days increased by 30% compared to the same period last year.
Local guides strongly advise to visit the nearby island of Wuzhizhou, which is home to more than 2,000 species of tropical fauna. Some of them are considered the oldest on Earth — a popular place for sports and health recovery after stressful working days. Moreover, one should definitely look into the Yalongwan Tropical Paradise Park with an area of more than 1,500 hectares, which is considered one of the best ennobled ecological zones on Hainan. It is located in a mountainous area adjacent to the sea and covered with dense forests.
Sanya is one of the largest resorts in China, tourism provides a significant part of the income of the local population. The provincial authorities are also planning to transform the city into a major financial and economic center with advanced infrastructure with the headquarters of big Chinese and foreign companies. In terms of welfare, it already ranks first among all other administrative-territorial units of the southernmost province of China.