More than six million tourists visited China’s getaway island province of Hainan over the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, as eased Covid-19 measures fueled the recovery of tourism in the country.
Some 6.4 million tourists traveled to the southern province between Jan. 21 and 27, an 18.2% gain from a year earlier and a five-year high, according to data released by Hainan’s tourism department. Revenue from tourism jumped 23.5% to CNY9.3 billion (USD1.4 billion).
Travel bookings for Hainan over the holiday period jumped 16% from the comparable time a last year, with ticket sales for tourist attractions surging 34%.
Sanya, a popular tourist destination in Hainan, was the most crowded city in China during the Chinese New Year holiday. Four tourist attractions affiliated with Sanya Tourism and Culture Investment Group welcomed a total of 46,000 visitors on Jan. 22, the first day of the lunar new year, almost tripling from a year ago, Chairman Zheng Conghui told Yicai Global.
Higher visitor numbers also speeded up the recovery of other related sectors. Bookings for rental cars, yachts, and other tourist-related services in Sanya soared more than 200% during the holiday from a year earlier.