Tropical island Hainan to boost tourism with more cruises routes
South China's Hainan Province plans to develop more cruise routes to upgrade its tourism, Hainan governor Shen Xiaoming said Sunday.
According to the government work report delivered by Shen to the provincial people's congress, Hainan aims to add more cruise routes around the central areas of the island and to its Xisha Island in 2019.
Aerial view of Sanya, Hainan Province, south China. /VCG Photo
Other cruise services departing from Hainan will also being explored, which would create more chances to explore routes to regions like Southeast Asia.
China is emerging as a gigantic cruise market. Cruise Lines International Association estimates that the number of Chinese tourists going on cruises are likely to increase to 8-10 million by 2025, a surge from the 2.5 million in 2017.
Aerial view of Sanya, Hainan. /VCG Photo
In addition, Hainan has started a pilot run of its 15-day visa free policy for tourist groups who take cruises and enter the country from ports in Hainan.
(Cover: The view of Sanya, Hainan Province, south China. /VCG Photo)
(With inputs from Xinhua)