HAIKOU, April 30./ TASS/. China's Hainan will provide coupons for tourists arriving in May worth 50 million yuan (approximately $ 7.7 million), which can be spent in local duty free stores, reported the Hainan Daily.
A total of one million coupons will be issued in various denominations from 50 to 200 yuan (approximately $ 8 to $ 31). Guests of the province will be provided with a set of coupons for 865 yuan (about $ 133), each of which can be spent in a specific store on a specified category of goods. For example, in one duty free store, part of the coupons can be exchanged for a discount when buying expensive alcohol, cosmetics and electronics, and in another — when buying watch, leather bags and perfumes.
The campaign aimed at boosting consumption will last from May 1 to May 31. Tourists arriving in Hainan will be able to receive e-coupons either via a special mobile application, or via WeChat messenger, or via Alipay payment system. Discount coupons are for personal use and cannot be transferred to other customers. In addition to providing coupons to visitors of the province, Hainan will hold promotions in May to reduce the cost of a number of duty free items.
Hainan's customer-focused Duty Free store program is one of the reasons this tropical island is so popular with tourists from China and other countries. A traveler arriving in the Hainan Province can make purchases in local duty free shops for up to 100,000 yuan (about $ 15,400). Duty Free zones offer products in 45 categories, including watches, cosmetics, alcohol, tablets and minicomputers, smartphones, game consoles, as well as other electronic gadgets and accessories.
By 2025, the Hainan authorities have set the goal of turning the province into an "international center for tourism and consumption." The Chinese island is often referred to as the "Eastern Hawaii" — natural landscapes, tropical forests, a developed hotel chain combined with beaches and a coastline stretching along more than 1,900 kilometers attract guests from the most distant parts of the world. During the thirteenth five-year plan (2016-2020), Hainan received about 352 million Chinese and foreign tourists.