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Hainan culture and tourism sphere fully recover from 2021 pandemic – media

According to the Hainan Daily, 81 million tourists visited the island
The original Lee folk opera "Yo Yo Lumin" was performed in Sanya U Hao
The original Lee folk opera "Yo Yo Lumin" was performed in Sanya
© U Hao

HAIKOU /China/, January 16. /TASS/. Hainan's tourism, cultural and sports spheres have fully recovered from the negative impact of the new coronavirus pandemic in 2021 thanks to effective government measures, the Hainan Daily newspaper reported, citing official data.

According to the newspaper, 81 million tourists visited the island during this period, which is 25.5% more than in 2020. The flow of tourists has almost reached pre-pandemic levels, with 97.5% of the 2019 figure.

As the local authorities noted, lately Hainan's tourism industry has been successfully developing not only in terms of the numbers of tourists. It has also demonstrated notable structural improvements that have boosted the efficiency of the relevant sector. As a result, the province's income from tourists increased by 58.6% in 2021, amounting to 138.43 billion yuan ($21.74 billion).

As Hainan Daily noted, the past 12 months have been particularly important for boosting consumption. China's southernmost province has successfully held a number of large-scale events: forums, exhibitions and fairs, as well as the annual carnival, which lasted for several weeks in December and covered the entire island.

At the same time, the Hainan administration has noticeably strengthened measures to attract capital to the tourism industry and important infrastructure projects that are expected to significantly improve the quality of services. Over the past year, the provincial government has organized more than 20 major investment promotion campaigns and held over 90 symposiums on related issues.

Culture and Sports

Hainan also attracted the attention of the Chinese and international community in 2021 with celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party of China (CCP). They took place both on and off the island. In early July, for example, Hainan artists performed a revolutionary opera at the Mei Lanfang Grand Theater in Beijing. The government has sponsored a series of performances in the province on the history of the CCP and the heroic struggle for national independence.

Simultaneously, Hainan held numerous activities to promote intangible heritage and traditional culture.

In addition, the local authorities organized over 130 water sports, horse racing, golf, fitness and bodybuilding competitions. All kinds of youth competitions were held on the island. Teams of athletes from different cities and provinces of the country, including more than 800 representatives from 14 national level teams and more than 1.5 thousand professionals, representing individual regions of China, visited the province during the winter period.

According to the newspaper, last year the island has also become a popular venue for soccer matches and table tennis competitions in China. Hainan athletes showed brilliant results at last year's Olympics in Tokyo, where they won the gold medal in taekwondo demonstrations.

In recent years, Hainan has actively promoted projects in the field of culture and sports. The provincial government pays close attention to strengthening international contacts and the formation of humanitarian projects and promotes the dynamic development of the modern entertainment industry.

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