HAIKOU /China/, November 6. /TASS/. China’s southern island province of Hainan has invited journalists and bloggers from 19 countries and regions to promote the resort city of Sanya, the Hainan Daily newspaper reported.

The information campaign is titled "Why China? Come to Sanya." It also involves Chinese-language media outlets based outside China.

An opening ceremony for Sanya’s international communications season has been held to mark the occasion. For about a week, participants in the series of events will explore local features and get to the heart of the concept designed to improve the image of this leading Chinese resort.

Such efforts are expected to make Sanya an even more important inbound tourism destination for China. The visa-free regime is likely to play a key role here, as citizens of 88 countries can enter China without a visa, and for 61 of these states, including Russia, the visa-free stay is 30 days.

Local authorities, businesses and media outlets are focusing their efforts on boosting demand for passenger flights, which will help increase the flow of tourists to Sanya from Russian-speaking countries, Central and Southeast Asia.

According to Li Yingting, head of the Publicity Department of Sanya Municipal Party Committee, Chinese-language media outlets in other countries and foreign bloggers are "the living force of cross-cultural communication." Li Yingting expressed hope that they would use their own experience to present the advantages and attractive features of this southern Chinese city to the international public and to share its character, culture and history with the world, sparking genuine interest and a desire to visit Hainan among people abroad.