HAIKOU /China/, Oct. 21. /TASS/. The Chinese resort city of Sanya in the southern province of Hainan over the past 10 years has made significant progress in tourism development and the tourist flow has doubled by 2021, according to Hainan Daily newspaper.
In 2012 the city welcomed over 11 million tourists, and in 2021 this figure rose to more than 21.6 million tourists. Simultaneously, revenues of the tourist industry have grown significantly. During this period they increased from 19.2 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) to 74.7 billion yuan ($10.5 billion). During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), Hainan welcomed about 352 million Chinese and foreign tourists.
The Sanya government has been paying great attention to the promotion of tourism, which is positioned as one of the main pillars of local economic development for the past 10 years. In recent years, tourism products have been constantly updated, services improved and infrastructure modernized in order to attract more tourists to the city.
The spread of COVID-19 over the past three years has made its own adjustments to tourism development in Sanya, but the city has adapted to the new conditions. For example, before the week-long weekend marking National Day of the People's Republic of China on October 1, the local authorities took all necessary measures to prepare for the influx of tourists, taking into account the current regulations and restrictions related to preventing the spread of infection. As a result, Sanya retained one of the top positions on the list of short-haul destinations over the aforementioned weekend.
The local government has paid great attention to the duty-free program, which attracts a large number of visitors to the city. In 2020, three new duty free stores were opened in Sanya, bringing their total to four.
By 2025, the authorities intend to turn Hainan into an "international center of tourism and consumption." The Chinese island is often referred to as the "Oriental Hawaii" - the natural scenery, tropical forests, developed network of hotels, combined with the beaches and coastline of more than 1,900 km long attract visitors from the most remote parts of the world.