hainan tourism statistics

Outlook for China tourism 2023: Light at the end of the tunnel

China is now removing travel restrictions rapidly, both domestically and internationally. While the sudden opening may lead to uncertainty and hesitancy to travel in the short term, Chinese tourists still express a strong desire to travel. And the recent removal of quarantine requirements in January 2023 could usher in a renewed demand for trips abroad.

Domestically, there are already signs of strong travel recovery. The recent Chinese New Year holidays saw 308 million domestic trips, generating almost RMB 376 billion in tourism revenue. 1 China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This upswing indicates that domestic travel volume has recovered to 90 percent of 2019 figures, and spending has bounced back to around 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels. 2 McKinsey analysis based on China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism data.

This article paints a picture of Chinese travelers and their evolving spending behaviors and preferences—and suggests measures that tourism service providers and destinations could take to prepare for their imminent return. The analyses draw on the findings of McKinsey’s latest Survey of Chinese Tourist Attitudes, and compare the results across six waves of surveys conducted between April 2020 and November 2022, along with consumer sentiment research and recent travel data.

From pandemic to endemic

By January 8, 2023, cross-city travel restrictions, border closures, and quarantine requirements on international arrivals to China had been lifted. 3 “Graphics: China’s 20 new measures for optimizing COVID-19 response,” CGTN, November 15, 2022; “COVID-19 response further optimized with 10 new measures,” China Services Info, December 8, 2022; “China reopens borders in final farewell to zero-COVID,” Reuters, January 8, 2023. This rapid removal of domestic travel restrictions, and an increase in COVID-19 infection rates, likely knocked travel confidence for cross-city and within-city trips. Right after the first easing of measures, in-city transport saw a marked drop as people stayed home—either because they were ill, or to avoid exposure. Subway traffic in ten major cities in mainland China fell and then spiked during Chinese New Year in February. Hotel room bookings also peaked at this time.

Domestic airline seat capacity experienced a minor rebound as each set of restrictions was lifted—suggesting a rise in demand as airlines scheduled more flights. Domestic capacity fluctuated, possibly due to the accelerated COVID-19 infection rate and a temporary labor shortage. International seat capacity, however, continued to climb (Exhibit 1).

By Chinese new year, China was past its infection peak—and domestic tourism recovered strongly. For instance, Hainan drew 6.4 million visitors over Chinese New Year (up from 5.8 million in 2019) and visits to Shanghai reached 10 million (roughly double 2019 holiday figures). 4 China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Overall, revenue per available room (RevPAR) during this period recovered and surpassed pre-pandemic levels, at 120 percent of 2019 figures. 5 STR data. Outbound trips are still limited, but given the pent-up demand for international travel (and the upswing in domestic tourism) the tourism industry may need to prepare to welcome back Chinese tourists.

Tourism players should be ready for this; the time to act is now.

A demand boom is around the corner—Chinese tourists are returning soon

Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were eager travelers. Mainland China had the largest outbound travel market in the world, both in number of trips and total spend. 6 World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Tourism dashboard, Outbound tourism ranking. In 2019, Mainland Chinese tourists took 155 million outbound trips, totaling $255 billion in travel spending. 7 China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. These figures indicate total outbound trips, including to Hong Kong and Macau. China is also an important source market for some major destinations. For instance, Chinese travelers made up 28 percent of inbound tourism in Thailand, 30 percent in Japan, and 16 percent of non-EU visitors to Germany. 8 United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) database.

Leisure travel was the biggest driver of China’s outbound travel, representing 65 percent of travelers in 2019. In the same year, 29 percent of travelers ventured out for business, and 6 percent journeyed to visit friends and relatives. 9 Euromonitor International database.

Our most recent Survey of Chinese Tourist Attitudes, conducted in November 2022, shows that Chinese tourists have retained their keen desire to explore international destinations. About 40 percent of respondents reported that they expect to undertake outbound travel for their next leisure trip.

Where do these travelers want to go?

The results also indicate that the top three overseas travel destinations (beyond Hong Kong and Macau) are Australia/New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Overall, respondents show less interest in travel to Europe than in previous years, down from 7 percent to 4 percent compared to wave 5 respondents. Desire to embark on long-haul international trips to Australia/New Zealand increased from 5 percent to 7 percent, and North American trips from 3 percent to 4 percent since the last survey. The wealthier segment (monthly household income over RMB 38,000) still shows a high interest in EU destinations (13 percent).

There are stumbling blocks on the road to recovery

While travel sentiment is strong, other factors may deter travelers from taking to the skies: fear of COVID-19; the need for COVID-19 testing which can be expensive; ticket prices; risk appetite of destination countries; and getting a passport or visa.

Chinese travelers may favor domestic trips, even if all outbound travel restrictions are removed, until they feel it is safe to travel internationally. A COVID-19-safe environment in destination countries will likely boost travelers’ confidence and encourage them to book trips again. 10 “Long-haul travel barometer,” European Travel Commission, February 1, 2023.

Travel recovery is also dependent on airline capacity. Some international airlines might be slow to restore capacity as fleets were retired during COVID-19 and airlines face a shortage of crew, particularly pilots. Considering that at the time of writing, in April 2023, international airline seat capacity has only recovered to around 37 percent of pre-pandemic levels, travelers are likely to face elevated ticket prices in the coming months. For instance, ticket prices for travel in the upcoming holidays to popular overseas destinations such as Japan and Thailand are double what they were in 2019. 11 Based on Ctrip prices. Price-sensitive travelers might wait for ticket prices to level out before booking their overseas trips.

Chinese airlines, however, appear more ready to resume full service than their international counterparts —fewer pilots left the industry and aircraft are available. Chinese carriers’ widebody fleets are mostly in service or ready to be redeployed (Exhibit 2).

Moving forward, safety measures in destination countries will affect travel recovery. Most countries have dropped testing requirements on arrivals from mainland China, and Chinese outbound group travel has resumed but is still limited to selected countries.

Many Chinese travelers—maybe 20 percent—have had passports expire during the COVID-19 period, and China has not been renewing these passports. Renewals are now possible, but the backlog will slow travel’s rebound by a few months. 12 Steve Saxon, “ What to expect from China’s travel rebound ,” McKinsey, January 25, 2023. Furthermore, travel visas for destination countries can take some time to be processed and issued.

Taken together, these factors suggest that the returning wave of Chinese travelers may only gather momentum by the Summer of 2023 and that China’s travel recovery will likely lag Hong Kong’s by a few months.

Overall, China is opening up to travel, both inbound and outbound—all types of visas are being issued to foreign visitors, and locals are getting ready to travel abroad. 13 “China to resume issuing all types of visas for foreigners,” China Briefing, March 14, 2023.

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The returning chinese traveler is evolving.

Although Chinese travelers did not have opportunities to travel internationally over the past three years, they continued to travel domestically and explore new offerings. Annual domestic trips remained at around 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels, amounting to 8.7 billion domestic trips over the past three years. 14 China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. During this time, the domestic market matured, and travelers became more sophisticated as they tried new leisure experiences such as beach resorts, skiing trips, and “staycations” in home cities. Chinese travelers became more experienced as thanks to periods of low COVID-19 infection rates domestically they explored China’s vast geography and diverse experiences on offer.

Consequently, the post-COVID-19 Chinese traveler is even more digitally savvy, has high expectations, and seeks novel experiences. These are some of the characteristics of a typical traveler:

• Experience-oriented: Wave 6 of the survey shows that the rebound tourist is planning their trip around experiences. Outdoor and scenic trips remain the most popular travel theme. In survey waves 1 to 3, sightseeing and “foodie” experiences were high on the list of preferences while traveling. From waves 4 to 6, culture and history, beaches and resorts, and health and wellness gained more attention—solidifying the trend for experience-driven travel. Additionally, possibly due to the hype of the Winter Olympics, skiing and snowboarding have become popular activities.
• Hyper-digitized: While digitization is a global trend, Chinese consumers are some of the most digitally savvy in the world; mobile technologies and social media are at the core of daily life. COVID-19 drove people to spend more time online—now short-form videos and livestreaming have become the top online entertainment options in China. In the first half of 2022, Chinese consumers spent 30 percent of their mobile internet time engaging with short videos. 15 “In the first half of the year, the number of mobile netizens increased, and short videos accounted for nearly 30% of the total time spent online,” Chinadaily.com, 27 July 2022.
• Exploration enthusiasts: Chinese travelers are also keen to explore the world and embark on novel experiences in unfamiliar destinations. Survey respondents were looking forward to visiting new attractions, even when travel policies limited their travel radius. Instead of revisiting destinations, 45 percent of respondents picked short trips to new sites as their number one choice, followed by long trips to new sites as their second choice.

Consumers are optimistic, and travel spending remains resilient

McKinsey’s 2022 research on Chinese consumer sentiment shows that although economic optimism is seeing a global decline, 49 percent of Chinese respondents reported that they are optimistic about their country’s economic recovery. Optimism had dropped by 6 percentage points since an earlier iteration of the survey, but Chinese consumers continue to be more optimistic than other surveyed countries, apart from India (80 percent optimistic) and Indonesia (73 percent optimistic) (Exhibit 3). 16 “ Survey: Chinese consumer sentiment during the coronavirus crisis ,” McKinsey, October 13, 2022.

Chinese consumers are still keen to spend on travel, and travel spending is expected to be resilient. Wave 6 of the tourist attitude survey saw 87 percent of respondents claiming that they will spend more or maintain their level of travel spending. Moreover, when consumers were asked “which categories do you intend to splurge/treat yourself to,” travel ranked second, with 29 percent of respondents preferring travel over other categories. 17 “ Survey: Chinese consumer sentiment during the coronavirus crisis ,” McKinsey, October 13, 2022.

Against this context of consumer optimism, the wave 6 tourist attitude survey results shed light on how travelers plan to spend, and which segments are likely to spend more than others:

• The wealthier segment and older age groups (age 45-65) show the most resilience in terms of travel spend. Around 45 to 50 percent of travelers in these two groups will spend more on their next leisure trip.
• The wealthier segment has shown the most interest in beach and resort trips (48 percent). Instead of celebrating Chinese New Year at home with family, 30 percent of Chinese travelers in the senior age group (age 55-65) expect to take their next leisure trip during this holiday—10 percent more than the total average. And the top three trip preferences for senior travelers are culture, sightseeing, and health-themed trips.
• When it comes to where travelers plan to spend their money on their next trip, entertainment activities, food, and shopping are the most popular categories. These are also the most flexible and variable spending categories, and there are opportunities to up-sell—attractions, food and beverage, and retail players are well positioned to create unique and unexpected offerings to stimulate spending in this area (Exhibit 4).

Independent accommodation is gaining popularity

Overall, Chinese consumers have high expectations for products and services. McKinsey’s 2023 consumer report found that local brands are on the rise and consumers are choosing local products for their quality, not just for their cheaper prices. Chinese consumers are becoming savvier, and tap into online resources and social media to educate themselves about the specific details and features of product offerings. 18 Daniel Zipser, Daniel Hui, Jia Zhou, and Cherie Zhang, 2023 McKinsey China Consumer Report , McKinsey, December 2022.

Furthermore, 49 percent of Chinese consumers believe that domestic brands are of “better quality” than foreign brands—only 23 percent believe the converse is true. Functionality extended its lead as the most important criterion influencing Chinese consumers, indicating that consumers are focusing more on the functional aspects of products, and less on emotional factors. Branding thus has less influence on purchasing decisions. 19 Daniel Zipser, Daniel Hui, Jia Zhou, and Cherie Zhang, 2023 McKinsey China Consumer Report , McKinsey, December 2022.

These broader consumer sentiments are echoed in the travel sector. Chinese travelers pay attention to cost, but do not simply seek out the lowest prices. While 17 percent of wave 6 respondents are concerned about low prices, 33 percent are on the hunt for value-for-money offerings, and 30 percent prefer good discounts and worthwhile deals.

And consumer sentiment regarding local brands holds true for travel preferences. Independent travel accommodation continues to be the preferred choice for most respondents, increasing in share against international chain brand hotels (Exhibit 5). Almost 60 percent of respondents prefer independent accommodation such as boutique hotels, B&Bs, and Airbnb—an 8 percentage-point increase since 2020.

Local chain brand hotels remain stable, the favored accommodation for 20 percent of respondents. These hotels are seen as a more standardized option, and as most are located in urban areas, they target the budget traveler segment.

Opting for independent accommodation is not considered a trade down; Chinese travelers expect a high level of service. In particular, respondents in the wealthier segment picked independent options (57 percent) over international premium brands (27 percent).

Premium independent options for the wealthier segment are abundant, specifically in leisure travel. Setting up a premium brand hotel requires long-term construction periods and heavy capital investment. Small-scale boutique hotels or B&Bs, on the other hand, are more agile solutions that can ramp up in the short term. This may explain the abundance of premium independent offerings. For instance, in destinations such as Lijiang and Yangshuo, between seven and nine of the top-ten premium hotels listed on Ctrip are independent boutique hotels.

Premium independent accommodation’s strength lies in quality guest experience with a genuine human touch. The service level at premium independent establishments can even surpass that of chain brand accommodation thanks to the high staff-to-room ratio, which easily reaches 3:1 or even 5:1. 20 “Strategic marketing analysis of boutique hotels,” Travel Daily , June 3, 2015. For hotels in Xiamen, Lijiang, and Yangshou, Ctrip service ratings of premium independent hotels are all above 4.7, outperforming international chain brand hotels.

Travelers are becoming smarter and more realistic during hotel selection, focusing on fundamental offerings such as local features and value for money. Across all types of hotels, local features are one of the most important factors influencing hotel selection—even for chain brand hotels which have a reputation for mastering the standardized offering. On average, 34 percent of respondents report that local features and cultural elements are the key considerations affecting their choice of hotel.

Outbound Chinese tourists are evolving rapidly, becoming increasingly diverse in their travel preferences, behaviors, and spending patterns. Chinese travelers are not homogeneous, and their needs and preferences continue to evolve. Therefore, serving each group of tourists may require different product offerings, sales channels, or marketing techniques.

The path toward eco-friendly travel in China

How international travel and tourism can attract outbound chinese travelers.

China’s lifting of travel restrictions may cause some uncertainty in the short term, but a promising recovery lies ahead. Chinese tourists have maintained a strong desire to travel internationally and are willing to pay for this experience. They are also discerning and looking for high-quality accommodation, offerings, and service. As boutique hotels are becoming more popular, international hotel brands hotels could, for example, aim to stand out by leveraging their experience in service excellence.

With renewed travel demand, now may be the time for international travel and tourism businesses to invest in polishing product offerings—on an infrastructural and service level. Tourism, food and beverage, retail, and entertainment providers can start preparing for the rebound by providing unique and innovative experiences that entice the adventurous Chinese traveler.

Craft an authentically local offering that appeals to experience-driven Chinese travelers

Chinese travelers have suspended overseas trips for three years, and are now looking to enjoy high-quality experiences in destinations they have been to before. They also want to do more than shopping and sightseeing, and have expressed willingness to spend on offerings geared towards entertainment and experience. This includes activities like theme parks, snow sports, water sports, shows, and cultural activities. Authentic experiences can satisfy their desire for an immersive foreign experience, but they often want the experience to be familiar and accessible.

Designing the right product means tapping into deep customer insights to craft offerings that are accessible for Chinese travelers, within a comfortable and familiar setting, yet are still authentic and exciting.

Travel and tourism providers may also have opportunities to up-sell or cross-sell experiences and entertainment offerings.

Social media is essential

Social media is emerging as one of the most important sources of inspiration for travel. Short video now is a major influence channel across all age groups and types of consumers.

Tourist destinations have begun to leverage social media, and short video campaigns, to maximize exposure. For example, Tourism Australia recently launched a video campaign with a kangaroo character on TikTok, and overall views soon reached around 1.67 billion.

The story of Ding Zhen, a young herder from a village in Sichuan province, illustrates the power of online video in China. In 2020, a seven-second video of Ding Zhen turned him into an overnight media sensation. Soon after, he was approached to become a tourism ambassador for Litang county in Sichuan—and local tourism flourished. 21 “Tibetan herder goes viral, draws attention to his hometown in SW China,” Xinhuanet, December 11, 2020. Another Sichuan local, the director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau in Ganzi, has drawn visitors to the region through his popular cosplay videos that generated 7 million reviews. Building on the strength of these influential celebrities, visitor numbers to the region were said to reach 35 million, more than two-and-a-half times 2016 volumes. 22 “Local official promoting Sichuan tourism goes viral on internet,” China Daily, June 17, 2022; “The Director of Culture and Tourism disguises himself as a “Swordsman” knight to promote Ganzi tourism,” Travel Daily , June 17, 2022.

Online travel companies are also using social media to reach consumers. Early in the pandemic, Trip.com took advantage of the upward trend in livestreaming. The company’s co-founder and chairman of the board, James Liang, hosted weekly livestreams where he dressed up in costume or chatted to guests at various destinations. Between March and October 2020, Liang’s livestreams sold around $294 million’s worth of travel packages and hotel room reservations. 23 “Travel companies adapt to a livestreaming trend that may outlast the pandemic,” Skift, October 26, 2020.

Livestreaming is being used by tourism boards, too. For instance, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) collaborated with Trip.com to launch a new campaign to attract Chinese tourists to Thailand as cross-border travel resumed. The broadcast, joined by TAT Governor Mr Yuthasak Supasorn, recorded sales of more than 20,000 room nights amounting to a gross merchandise value of over RMB 40 million. 24 “Trip.com Group sees border reopening surge in travel bookings boosted by Lunar New Year demand,” Trip.com, January 13, 2023.

International tourism providers looking to engage Chinese travelers should keep an eye on social media channels and fully leverage key opinion leaders.

Scale with the right channel partners

Travel distribution in China has evolved into a complex, fragmented, and Chinese-dominated ecosystem, making scaling an increasingly difficult task. Travel companies need to understand the key characteristics of each channel type, including online travel agencies (OTAs), online travel portals (OTPs), and traditional travel agencies as each target different customer segments, and offer different levels of control to brands. It also takes different sets of capabilities to manage each type of distribution channel.

Travel companies can prioritize the channels they wish to use and set clear roles for each. One challenge when choosing the right channel partner is to avoid ultra-low prices that may encourage volume, but could ultimately damage a brand.

Meanwhile, given the evolution of the postCOVID-19 industry landscape and rapid shifts in consumer demand, travel companies should consider direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels. The first step would be selecting the appropriate D2C positioning and strategy, according to the company’s needs. In China, D2C is a complicated market involving both public domains (such as social media and OTA platforms) and private domains (such as official brand platforms). To make the most of D2C, travel companies need a clear value proposition for their D2C strategy, whether it be focused on branding or on commercial/sales.

Create a seamless travel experience for the digitally savvy Chinese tourist

China has one of the most digitally advanced lifestyles on the planet. Chinese travelers are mobile-driven, wallet-less, and impatient—and frequently feel “digitally homesick” while abroad. Overseas destinations and tourism service providers could “spoil” tech-savvy Chinese travelers with digitally enhanced service.

China’s internet giants can provide a shortcut to getting digital services off the ground. Rather than building digital capabilities from scratch, foreign tourism providers could engage Chinese travelers through a platform that is already being used daily. For example, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport provides a WeChat Mini Program with four modules: duty-free shopping, flight inquiry, information transfer, and travel planning. This contains information about all aspects of the airport, including ground transportation and tax refund procedures.

Alibaba’s Alipay, a third-party mobile and online payment platform, is also innovating in this space. The service provider has cooperated with various tax refund agencies, such as Global Blue, to enable a seamless digitized tax refund experience. Travelers scan completed tax refund forms at automated kiosks in the airport, and within a few hours, the refunded amount is transferred directly to their Alipay accounts. 25 “Alipay and Global Blue to make tax refunds easy for Chinese tourists,” Alizila, June 23, 2014.

Such digital applications are likely to be the norm going forward, not a differentiator, so travel companies that do not invest in this area may be left behind.

Chinese travelers are on the cusp of returning in full force, and tourism providers can start preparing now

With China’s quarantine requirements falling away at the start of 2023, travelers are planning trips, renewing passports and visas, and readying themselves for a comeback. Chinese tourists have not lost their appetite for travel, and a boom in travel demand can be expected soon. Though airlines are slow to restore capacity, and some destination countries are more risk averse when welcoming Chinese travelers, there are still options for Chinese tourists to explore destinations abroad.

Tourism providers can expect to welcome travelers with diverse interests who are willing to spend money on travel, who are seeking out exciting experiences, and who are choosing high-quality products and services. The returning Chinese traveler is digitally savvy and favors functionality over branding—trends suggest that providers who can craft authentic, seamless, and unique offerings could be well positioned to capture this market.

Guang Chen and Jackey Yu are partners in McKinsey’s Hong Kong office, Zi Chen is a capabilities and insights specialist in the Shanghai office, and Steve Saxon is a partner in the Shenzhen office.

The authors wish to thank Cherie Zhang, Glenn Leibowitz, Na Lei, and Monique Wu for their contributions to this article.

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China's resort island of Hainan receives over 81 million tourists in 2021

Hainan's total tourism revenue increased 58.6% over the previous year to about 21.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 30.9% compared to 2019.

More than 81 million domestic and overseas tourists visited south China's tropical island province of Hainan in 2021, up 25.5% year on year, which is equivalent to 97.5% of the number in 2019, local authorities said Thursday.

Hainan's total tourism revenue increased 58.6% over the previous year to about RMB 138.4 billion (about 21.7 billion U.S. dollars), up 30.9% compared to 2019, according to the provincial department of tourism, culture, radio, television and sports.

The province reported RMB 49.5 billion of offshore duty-free shopping in 2021, up 80% year on year, with more than 70 million items purchased by 6.72 million shoppers.

China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035. 

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Tourist spend in Hainan rises 58% in 2021

By Chris Madden in Latest News , Lead Stories January 24, 2022 Comments Off on Tourist spend in Hainan rises 58% in 2021

The island has almost completed its recovery from the pandemic

Hainan recovered to almost pre-pandemic levels as it welcomed 81 million tourists in 2021.

The figure, released by Hainan IEDB citing the Hainan Daily Newspaper, marks a 25.5% year-on-year increase and a return to 97.5% of the tourist numbers seen in 2019.

The island is also reaping the financial rewards of its tourist influx, which comes as Chinese travellers are using Hainan as a holiday destination while wider international travel remains forbidden. As noted, many experts expect the popularity of Hainan to endure once travel resumes for China’s residents.

In 2021, the province’s income from tourists reached 138.43bn Yuan ($21.74bn), marking an increase of 58.6% on the previous year. Much of this was attributed to large-scale events held on the island, including exhibitions, fairs and the annual carnival.

The duty-free industry on the island is also feeling the positive effects, with stores in Sanya securing 36.11bn Yuan ($5.67bn) in sales last year, up 74.8% on 2020.

It comes as a new report from Swiss agency m1nd-set revealed that there is still “untapped potential” for spend in Hainan’s duty-free stores, with the vast majority of shoppers (82%) not spending their full shopping allowance.

The per-person allowance for purchases was increased from 30,000 Yuan to 100,000 Yuan ($15,500) in July 2020 and last February a home-delivery service was introduced for residents on the island.

Tagged with: Hainan Hainan IEDB

Tourism Analytics, the Case for Hainan China

• First Online: 09 March 2023

Cite this chapter

• Lu Hengyu 2 ,
• Wei Yuzhi 2 ,
• Wang Qi 2 ,
• Wu Meng 2 &
• Zhang Qiqi 2  

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This work studies the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry in Hainan province, China. We analyzed the data trend changes of overnight domestic tourists, foreign tourists, and tourism revenue using time series models and derive several insights from it. The COVID-19 epidemic caused a significant negative impact on the tourism revenue of Hainan province. In February 2020, the tourism revenue decreased by 88% as compared to the same month in 2019. We examined the tourist data with time series models and discovered that although the number of tourists decreased significantly, the tourism revenue continued to increase and achieved year on year (YoY) growth rate of 20% in December 2020. This could be due to three reasons: first since it is more inconvenient for tourists to travel and will cost them more from spending like arrival test or quarantine cost. Travelers who are willing to travel during this period will spend more during their travel, that is, the per capita consumption is higher than before; second, some travelers were quarantined in Hainan as entry point to China from another country, which brings up the revenues of hotels and restaurants; third, people from Hainan province are more willing to travel within the province, that contributes to further increase the overall tourism revenue. Finally, we made suggestions following these observations to increase tourism revenue in the time of the epidemic.

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Pan, H., Hengyu, L., Yuzhi, W., Qi, W., Meng, W., Qiqi, Z. (2023). Tourism Analytics, the Case for Hainan China. In: Nguwi, Y.Y. (eds) Tourism Analytics Before and After COVID-19. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9369-5_2

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The regional differences and influencing factors of tourism development on Hainan Island, China

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Management College of Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

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Affiliation School of Tourism and Geography Science, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

• Shengrui Zhang, 

• Published: October 8, 2021
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407
• Reader Comments

Exploring the spatial pattern of tourism resources and tourism economy is vital to improve the utilization efficiency of tourism resources and promote sustainable tourism development. This research investigated the quantity and types of tourism resources and analyzed the spatial patterns of tourism resources on Hainan Island from the perspectives of spatial variation and spatial association. The spatial and temporal pattern of the number of tourists and tourism revenue during 2010–2019 were further analyzed. The influencing factors of tourism development were explored based on the geographic detector. The results showed that 10425 tourism resources exist on Hainan Island, and the type of buildings and facilities had the largest number of tourism resources. The geological landscape, astronomical phenomena and meteorological landscapes, buildings and facilities, ruins and remains, tourism commodities, and human activities showed significant spatial agglomeration. Domestic tourism was far more developed than inbound tourism in terms of the number of tourists and tourism revenue. However, the spatial difference of tourism resources and tourism economy was apparent on Hainan Island. Factor analysis showed that the quantity of hotels, the proportion of tertiary industry in the GDP, and the regional population were the most influential factors for the distribution of tourism resources, while the density of the road network, the quantity of hotels, the per capita GDP, the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, the regional population, and the quantity of tourism resources showed obvious influences on the tourism economy of Hainan Island. Interactions of the factors mainly fell into three types: synergistic increases, single factor weakening, and nonlinear weakening. It is suggested that the local government should fully exploit diversity types of tourism resources on Hainan Island to attract more tourists and improve the tourism revenue; improving the inbound tourism, and to strengthen the construction of road network on Hainan Island.

Citation: Zhang S, Ju H (2021) The regional differences and influencing factors of tourism development on Hainan Island, China. PLoS ONE 16(10): e0258407. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407

Editor: Jun Yang, Northeastern University (Shenyang China), CHINA

Received: July 6, 2021; Accepted: September 26, 2021; Published: October 8, 2021

Copyright: © 2021 Zhang, Ju. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: The tourism data underlying the results presented in the study are available from the Yearbook of Hainan Tourism Statistics (2010-2020) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure through the following link: https://data.cnki.net/ . There are no ethical or legal restrictions on sharing a de-identified data set.

Funding: This paper was supported by the Youth Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 42001243), the Humanities and Social Science Project of the Ministry of Education (grant number: 20YJC630212) and the Youth Program of Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (grant number: ZR2020QD008).

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

As the largest island completely located in the tropical region of China, Hainan has rich tourism resources, unique cultural customs, and favorable conditions for the development of tourism [ 1 ]. Hainan’s spatial advantages and favorable policies have provided opportunities for the high-quality development of tourism in the area. Since the implementation of the international tourism island strategy in 2009, Hainan’s tourism industry had achieved rapid development. By 2019, Hainan’s tourism revenue accounted for about 19.92% of the area’s GDP—much higher than the global average (6.61%) and average level in China (11.05%) [ 2 ]. Notably, the offshore duty-free policy greatly promoted the development of domestic tourism. In 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 limited the development of outbound tourism, which further boosted domestic tourism development in China, indicating that the continued growth trend of Hainan’s tourism would not change in the new era [ 3 ]. On the other hand, there has been a homogenized development trend in Hainan’s tourism, which could easily lead to vicious competition and threaten the coordinated development of Hainan’s tourism [ 4 ]. In the relevant studies on Hainan, scholars have focused on the development of tourism resources [ 5 , 6 ], tourism management [ 7 – 9 ], problems in the development of the tourism industry and countermeasures [ 10 – 12 ], impacts of tourism development on local environment and economy [ 13 – 16 ].

Island tourism refers to the phenomenon of the development of tourism on an island that advances the establishment of family guesthouses, corporate hotels, and other related commercial areas, as well as an integration of the island’s scenic spots and urban developments [ 17 ]. Tourism resources of island were special with its natural and human attractions, such as coral reefs, unique flora and fauna and minority culture. Tourism resource evaluation is a hot spot in island tourism research. Priskin constructed a natural resource evaluation index system including 29 indicators from four aspects: attractiveness, accessibility, infrastructure status, and environmental degradation, and evaluated the natural resources of island in central Western Australia [ 18 ]. Li et al. built an evaluation system of 26 indicators including resource value, development status, location, transportation, environmental capacity, and economic benefits, and applied the analytic hierarchy process and projection tracking model to evaluate the development potential of tourism resources for island counties in China [ 19 ]. Some scholars also focused on the spatial structure of the tourism resources on island. Yang et al. studied the junction point, path and domain constituting tourism spatial structure of island destination and propose optimal suggestion for the tourism spatial structure [ 20 ]. Shen and Tian took 41 high quality tourism attractions in Hainan island as an example, analyzed the spatial structure and its evolution based on nearest neighbor index and geographic concentration index [ 6 ]. However, due to the difficulties of acquiring exhaustive data of tourism resources on island, studies on the regional differences of tourism resources on tourism islands were still lack.

Tourism revenue and the number of tourists were important topic related to tourism development. Jang et al. estimated the lost tourism revenue in Geoje Island from the 2011 marine debris pollution event in South Korea base on the analysis of visitor count [ 21 ]. Kristiana et al. found that the improving of quality of facilities and services at tourism destination could help increase the number of tourists [ 22 ]. Joshi et al. found that the international tourism revenue was more responsive to policies and regulations favoring tourism, abundance of natural resources, richness in cultural heritage, and health and hygiene than they are to infrastructure, safety, price competitiveness, and other variables [ 23 ]. Chen et al. pointed out that climatic seasonal factors have significant pulling and pushing effects on seasonal patterns of tourism demand, with temperature being the main factor [ 24 ]. However, comprehensive and quantitative studies on the influencing factors of the natural, social, and economic aspects on the tourism development remained insufficient. It would be helpful to measure different factors’ impacts on the tourism resources, tourism revenue and the number of tourists. Unlike previous studies mostly explored the drivers from the perspective of the time dynamic, this study would analyze the influencing factors from the perspective of spatial difference based on a novel method named geographical detectors.

Overall, this paper will comprehensively describe the tourism development pattern including tourism resources, tourism revenue and number of tourists of Hainan Island and identifying the influencing factors. First, the structural types and quantitative characteristics of tourism resources on Hainan Island will be analyzed and the spatial pattern of tourism resources at township level will be described. Then, this paper will analyze the development of Hainan’s tourism economy from two perspectives of the quantity of tourists and tourism revenue in 2010–2019. Finally, the influencing factors and the influencing mechanisms of Hainan’s tourism development will be analyzed. Optimization measures will be proposed to improve the efficiency of tourism resources exploitation and realize sustainable tourism development on Hainan Island.

Data and methods

Data source.

The data include tourism resources, tourism economic data, and DEM data. The divisions of prefectural and county units were based on the administrative divisions of 2018 to avoid data inconsistencies caused by adjustments to the administrative divisions over time ( Fig 1a ). Due to the relatively small number of tourists and the lack of relevant data, we did not analyze the situation in Sansha City. In addition, since the Yangpu area had not yet established an independent tourism administration department at the time of this study, the area’s relevant data were incorporated into Danzhou City.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.g001

The tourism resource data were acquired from four sources: academic documents, the tourism planning of the counties, the official travel websites of the counties, and field surveys carried out in 2018. The attributes and spatial coordinates of tourism resources were obtained via field research, which covered 18 counties and cities on Hainan Island.

The tourism economic data were acquired from Hainan Statistical Yearbook (2010–2020) and China Statistical Yearbook (2010–2020). According to the classification of tourism economic indicators in the statistical yearbook, we selected two indicators, the quantity of tourists and tourism revenue, to describe the development of Hainan’s tourism economy. The DEM data were obtained from the National Basic Geographic Information System database at a resolution of 500 m ( Fig 1b ).

Methodology

This paper analyzes the spatial pattern of tourism development on Hainan Island from three perspectives: spatial differences, spatial autocorrelation, and spatial agglomeration effects. The spatial differences are expressed as the coefficient of variation ( CV ), while the global and local Moran’s I indexes are used to test the global and local spatial associations of tourism development. The influence of each factor is measured using the Geographic Detector.

Spatial differences.

Spatial association indicators.

Geo-detector.

The factor detector was used to analyze the relative influence of various factors on the tourism development of Hainan and the interaction detector was used to analyze the interaction mechanisms among each factor. The influencing indicators of tourism development was selected based on three perspectives: natural conditions, social environment, and economic development. The natural indicators included relief amplitude and average elevation. The social environment included the quantity of residents, minority populations, road network density, and quantity of hotels. The economic development indicators included the per capita gross domestic product and the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP.

In the ArcGIS platform, two layers of impact factors (such as M and N ) can be superimposed to form layer O . Then, the P values of M , N , and O can be calculated and substituted into the above formula to determine whether the two factors feature interactions and whether these interaction are enhanced or weakened.

The factor analysis and interaction analysis of the influencing factors in this study were all based on the GD package in the R language, which can automatically determine the best discretization method and amount of discretization for each factor. For the discretization of all factors in this study, the equidistant method, natural discontinuous point method, and quartile method were adopted, and the discretization quantity was selected from the 4–6 discretization divisions with the greatest influence.

Numerical features of tourism resources

The results indicated a total of 10425 tourism resource objects on Hainan Island, while the numbers of different types of tourism resources were significantly different. According to the National Standard for the “Classification, investigation and evaluation of tourism resources” (GB/T18972-2017), the tourism resources were divided into 8 main types, 23 sub-types, and 110 fundamental types. In the case of Hainan Island, Buildings and Facilities was the largest main type, and included 4807 tourism resource objects, followed by Geological Landscapes, Water Landscapes, and Ruins and Remains with more than 1000 objects. By contrast, the tourism resource objects of Tourism Commodities, Human Activities, Biological Landscapes, and Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes accounted for about 10% of the total. In terms of subtypes, practical buildings and facilities, cultural landscape complexes, natural landscape complexes, and lakes were the major types of the tourism resources. However, the Industrial products, Astronomical landscapes, and Natural markers and natural phenomena were relatively rare in Hainan Island ( Table 1 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.t001

The distribution of tourism resources was unevenly in Hainan Island. Haikou City, Sanya City, and Wenchang City had the largest number of tourism resources, including 1707, 1037, and 904 objects, respectively. By contrast, the number of tourism resource objects in Lingao County, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, and Dongfang City were only 303, 269, and 213, respectively ( Fig 2 ). The structure of the different types of the tourism resources were various over space. Buildings and Facilities was the major type for most cities and counties, including Haikou City, Sanya City, Wenchang City, Qionghai City, Chengmai County, Dingan County, Lingao County. Some areas were dominated by Buildings and Facilities and Geological Landscapes, including Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, Dongfang City and Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County. By contrast, Wuzhishan City, Tunchang County, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, and Danzhou City had a more balanced structure with multiple types such as Geological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, Water Landscapes, as well as Ruins and Remains. Only Baisha Li Autonomous County was dominated by Geological Landscapes tourism types.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.g002

Spatial differences and spatial autocorrelation of tourism resources at the township level on Hainan Island

Influenced by the natural and cultural environment, the quantity of tourism resources varies greatly at different scales on Hainan Island. The overall coefficient of variation was 61.26% of Hainan Island. At the township level, the CV s of the Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, and Human Activities were all higher than 80% ( Table 2 ), indicating that the spatial differences between these tourism resources are significant. Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes were mainly concentrated in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, and Wuzhishan City, accounting for about 51.51% of the total. Buildings and Facilities were mainly concentrated in Haikou, Sanya, and Wenchang, accounting for about 50.09% of the total. Human Activities were mainly concentrated in Qionghai, Haikou, and Sanya, accounting for about 40.96% of the total.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.t002

The Global Moran’s I values of Geological Landscapes, Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, Ruins and Remains, Tourism Commodities, and Human Activities were all significant at a level of 0.01 ( Table 2 ), which indicates that these six types of border tourism resources all feature obvious spatial agglomeration phenomena at the township scale. Conversely, the Global Moran’s I of the total amount of tourism resources, Water Landscapes, and Biological Landscapes were not significant ( Table 2 ), indicating a relatively random distribution of all tourism resources and these two types of tourism resources at the township scale. Therefore, local autocorrelation analysis was only applied to Geological Landscapes, Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, Ruins and Remains, Tourism Commodities, and Human Activities ( Fig 3 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.g003

The hot/cold spatial patterns of Geological Landscapes, Water Landscapes, and Ruins and Remains were similar. The hot spots were concentrated in the southern region of Hainan Island. The cold spots were mainly concentrated in the northeast Hainan Island, and Haikou City and Chengmai County were the lowest density areas ( Fig 3a, 3b and 3d ). By contrast, the types of Tourism Commodities and Human Activity were mainly concentrated in the central and eastern parts of Hainan Island. High-high clusters were mainly distributed in the towns of Tayang, Boao, Tanmen, etc. The cold spots of Tourism Commodities were mainly concentrated in the northern towns of Haikou City, Wenchang City, Chengmai County, and Lingao County ( Fig 3e ), while the cold spots of Human Activity were located in the north of Haikou City and Wenchang City, in the northwest of Danzhou City, and in the southeast of Sanya City and Lingshui County, including Bolian Town, Dongge Town, Penglai Town, and Leiming Town, which all had low distribution density ( Fig 3f ).

The spatial pattern of hot/cold spots of Buildings and Facilities were different from the other types of tourism resources. The hot spots was concentrated in the northeast and the south of the island. At the township level, Longhua District, Qiongshan District, Meilan District, Xiuying District, Huiwen Town of Wenchang City, Boao Town of Qionghai City, and Yazhou District of Sanya City all showed high–high clusters. The cold spots were mainly concentrated in the central and western regions of Hainan Island, including Maodao Town, Changhao Town, Yaxing Town, Wangxia Town, Jiangbian Township, and Donghe Town ( Fig 3c ).

Spatiotemporel pattern of the tourism economy on Hainan Island from 2010 to 2019

Generally, the average number of tourists in Hainan totaled 51.41 million per year during 2010–2019, with a cumulative growth rate of 15.70%. In 2013–2014, the number of tourists in Hainan experienced the highest growth rate (30.40%). During 2010 to 2019, the average tourism revenue of the island reached 9.21 billion dollars, with a cumulative growth rate of 19.31%; the highest growth rate, 20.82%, was recorded in 2016–2017.

The development of the tourism economy on Hainan Island has been dominated by domestic tourism, with inbound tourism as a supplement. In terms of domestic tourism, the average number of tourists on the island reached 50.56 million per year in the past decade, with a cumulative growth rate of 15.83%. The highest growth rate occurred in 2013–2014, up to 31.31%. During this period, the average tourism revenue of all counties and cities in Hainan reached 8.63 billion dollars, with a cumulative growth rate of 19.68%; highest growth rate of 25.64% occurred in 2016–2017 ( Fig 4a ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.g004

In terms of inbound tourism, the average number of tourism on Hainan Island during the 10 years was 0.89 million per year, with a cumulative growth rate of 10.14%. The cumulative growth rate of inbound tourism revenue was 14.81%, which is slightly higher than the national average (14.06%). However, the development of inbound tourism on Hainan Island experienced an obvious fluctuation during the ten years. In 2010–2012, the average annual growth rate of inbound tourism was 23.01%, and the average annual growth rate of inbound tourism revenue was 8.08%. During 2013–2015, the inbound number of tourists and tourism revenue decreased at an average annual changing rate of -19.57% and -25.08%, respectively. In 2016–2019, the inbound tourism development recovered, with an average annual growth rate of 38.46% for inbound number of tourists, and an average annual growth rate of 66.65% for inbound tourism revenue ( Fig 4b ).

The spatial pattern of number of tourists was present in Fig 5 , and the pattern of tourism revenue was ignored because the lack of statistic data for each city and county in Hainan. It is shown that the domestic number of tourists was highest in Haikou city in the north and Sanya city in the south of Hainan Island. The eastern parts of the island also attracted a large number of domestic tourists, followed by the western parts of the island. The central parts of Hainan Island had the least tourists. By contrast, the number of inbound tourists was low for most areas on Hainan Island, and the eastern parts of Hainan Island along the sea attracted more tourists. Sanya and Haikou cities were most popular for international tourists.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.g005

By comparing the spatial patterns of tourism resources and number of tourists (Figs 4 and 5 ), an apparent spatial difference could be found between them. The spatial pattern of domestic number of tourists was most similar to that of the tourism resource type of Buildings and Facilities, where was high in the northeastern and southwestern parts and low in the western and central parts of the island. However, the other types of tourism resources such as Geological Landscape, Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Ruins and Remains, Tourist Commodities, and Human Activities all had an obvious spatial dislocation phenomenon with the distribution of domestic tourists and inbound tourists. This phenomenon may indicate an insufficient exploitation of these types of tourism resources.

The influence and interaction of factors on tourism development on Hainan Island

Geographical detector was used to analyze the influence of factors on tourism resources and number of tourists. The influence on tourism revenue was not processed due to the lack of spatial distribution data of the tourism revenue. Three factors showed significant influence on the tourism resources: the quantity of hotels, the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, and regional population ( Table 3 ). The quantity of hotels had the greatest explanatory power (0.7707), indicating that the spatial patterns of tourism resources were consistent with the distribution of hotels. The main reason for this result is that quantity of hotels and the number of tourism resources can objectively reflect regional tourism reception capacity, giving the two factors a strong correlation. The second influential factor was the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, whose explanatory power reached 0.7383. It was because tertiary industry drove the development of regional tourism resources. The explanatory power of population scale was also high (0.7051), mainly because an increase in population size correlated with an increase in the tourist market, indicating a higher demand for tourism resources development.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.t003

Six factors had significant influence on the number of tourists. Road network density, quantity of hotels, per capita gross domestic product, and the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP were significant at a level of 0.05, while population and the quantity of tourism resources were significant at a level of 0.1 ( Table 3 ). Notably, the explanatory power of quantity of hotels reached 0.9651, mainly because the development of hotels (the main reception facilities) was closely related to the choices of tourists. The explanatory power of per capita gross domestic product was 0.9484, mainly because the higher the per capita GDP is, the greater the residents’ abilities to travel and the larger the tourism market will be. In addition, road network density had a high influence because higher density of the road network could greatly increase the accessibility of tourism resources. The proportion of tertiary industry in GDP also had a significant impact, because a larger proportion of tertiary industry will lead to greater development of the local service industry and higher-quality service facilities. Moreover, a greater number of tourism resources in an area means that more tourists will be attracted to that area, thus contributed to the increase of tourists.

The interactions of the influencing factors on tourism resources showed that the interaction effects of natural conditions, social environment, and economic development mainly fell into three types: synergistic increases, single factor weakening, and nonlinear weakening ( Fig 6a ). The interaction between road network density and quantity of hotels had the largest influence on the spatial patterns of tourism resources, reaching 0.8647. The interaction between natural factors was synergistically enhance, while the interactions with social and economic factors presented various types. In particular, the interactions between relief amplitude and other social and economic factors were weakening, while the interactions between average elevation and socioeconomic factors were mostly synergistically enhance. Various types of interactions were observed among the social factors. For example, the interaction between the quantity of hotels and the population and the interaction between road network density and quantity of hotels were all synergistically enhanced. However, interaction between ethnic minority population and other factors were mostly weakening. The interactions of social factors and economic factors, interactions between economic factors were mainly synergistic enhance.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258407.g006

The interactions of the influencing factors on the number of tourists were mainly synergistical increasing and single-factor weakening; only part of the interaction presented nonlinear weakening ( Fig 6b ). The interaction between GDP per capita and the quantity of hotels had the largest influence on the number of tourists, reaching 0.9732. The interactions between natural factors showed synergistic enhancement, while the interactions between natural factors and social factors or economic factors were mainly single-factor weakening. In addition, the interactions between the social and economic factors or tourism resources were mainly synergistically enhanced. Only the interactions between the size of the ethnic minority population and some economic development factors and tourism resources were weakened.

Conclusions

In this study, we established a comprehensive database of tourism resources, number of tourists and tourism revenue on Hainan Island during 2010–2019. Based on the dataset, the spatial patterns of tourism resources and the tourism economy of Hainan Island were analyzed. The influencing factors and their interactions were further analyzed based on geographical detector.

The main conclusions of this paper are as follows: (1) 10425 tourism resource objects was investigated on Hainan Island. Buildings and Facilities was the largest main type, and Practical Buildings and Facilities was the largest sub-type. Haikou City and Dongfang City were the county-level units with the largest and smallest numbers of tourism resources, respectively; (2) The spatial differences in Hainan’s tourism resources were significant, and the CV s of the Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, and Human Activities were all higher than 80%. Geological Landscapes, Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, and Ruins and Remains all showed high–high clusters in the southwest and low–low clusters in the northeast of the island, respectively. Buildings and Facilities were concentrated in the northeast and southwest of the island and dispersed in the central area. Tourism Commodities and Human Activities were gathered in the central and eastern areas and dispersed in other areas; (3) During 2010–2019, the cumulative growth rates for the number of tourists and tourism revenue on the island were 15.70% and 19.31%, respectively. The domestic tourism was far more developed than the inbound tourism based on the data of tourism revenue and tourists. In addition, the spatial difference between tourism resources and tourism economy was apparent on Hainan Island; (4) The quantity of hotels, proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, and regional population had a significant impact on the spatial patterns of tourism resources on Hainan Island, while the density of the road network, the number of hotels, the per capita GDP, the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, the regional population, and the quantity of tourism resources were found to had significantly effects on the spatial patterns of the number of tourists on Hainan Island. The interactions of factors of tourism resources mainly fell into three types: synergistic increases, single factor weakening, and nonlinear weakening, while the interactions of the number of tourists were mainly synergistical increasing and single-factor weakening.

Based on the above results, three suggestions were proposed for the sustainable development of tourism on Hainan Island. First, the tourism resource and their attractions for tourists showed an obvious spatial dislocation phenomenon. It indicates that the tourism resources on Hainan Island were not sufficiently developed. The local government should take advantages of the diversity of different types of tourism resources on Hainan Island to attract more tourists and improve the tourism revenue. Second, the development of inbound tourism on Hainan Island is less developed compared with the domestic tourism. It is wise to learn from international famous tourism islands such as the Hawaii to create an international tourist destination. Third, according to the factor analysis, the density of road network would greatly promote the growth of the tourism market, and could result a synergistic enhance effects when interact with other factors. Thus, the government should strengthen the construction of basic road network on Hainan Island.

Due to the lack of county-level tourism revenue data, we only analyzed the spatial pattern of the quantity of tourists. In the future, the spatial patterns of the differences between tourism resources and tourism economy deserved further quantitative exploration. Also, the evaluation of the tourism resources could be done in the future with multi-sources such as social network.

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China's resort island of Hainan receives over 81 mln tourists in 2021

More than 81 million domestic and overseas tourists visited South China's tropical island province of Hainan in 2021, equivalent to 97.5 percent of visits in 2019, local authorities said Tuesday.

Hainan's total tourism revenue reached about 138.4 billion yuan (about $20.4 billion) during this period, up 30.9 percent from 2019, the provincial government said at the press conference.

Offshore duty-free shopping made a big contribution in this regard. From 2019 to 2021, the total sales of duty-free shopping in Hainan totaled over 100 billion yuan.

By the end of 2021, the province had set up 10 offshore duty-free shops and introduced over 1,400 international consumer brands, according to the provincial government.

China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035.

• 2022 China Tourism Day: 24-Hour LIVE
• 'Cloud tourism' a new fad amid COVID-induced travel restrictions
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I. Current Status

As a backbone industry in Hainan, tourism is entering a period of high-speed development.

In 2019, total tourism revenue in Hainan reached 105 billion yuan ($16.07 billion), up 11 percent year-on-year, and the value added of the tourism industry increased by 10 percent year-on-year.

‐ 83.14 million domestic and foreign tourists, up 9 percent year-on-year.

‐ 1.42 million inbound visitors, up 12 percent year-on-year.

In 2020, Hainan received a total of 64.55 million tourists from home and abroad, and achieved total tourism revenue of 87.29 billion yuan, becoming one of the fastest recovering tourist regions in China following the COVID-19 outbreak.

II. Development Advantages

Unique tourism resources

Hainan is the only tropical island province in China. It has the country’s largest marine area, abundant tourism resources, and high-quality typical tropical island scenery.

Duty free upon exit

Hainan is the only province where one can enjoy duty-free shopping without going abroad. It has the world's largest duty-free shop, and the prices are 15 percent-35 percent lower than they are with duty added.

Highest density of luxury hotels

Luxury resort hotels are densely located in Hainan, with 78 world famous hotel management groups and 94 international brand hotels active in the province.

Visa-free policy for 59 countries

Citizens from 59 countries can enter Hainan visa-free. There were more than 470,000 visa-free arrivals in 2019, up 33 percent year-on-year, bringing in a large number of international visitors.

III. New Opportunities for FTP Investment

Hainan will further open up and develop tourism, actively promote new businesses and new hot spots, enhance high-end tourism consumption, and upgrade the quality of the tourism industry.

(1) Shopping Tours

Implement more convenient duty-free shopping policies.

(2) Sports Tours

Promote the integration of tourism, sports and elder-care.

(3) Medical Tours

Expand the opening up of medical areas, following the policies of the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Advance Zone.

(4) Culture Tour

Develop emerging culture consumption, such as animation games and digital consumption.

(5) Cruise Home Port Construction

Combine the cruise economy with the sightseeing industry for mutual development.

(6) Yacht Tours

Build a comprehensive service platform for yacht tours and raise supervision of yacht leasing.

IV. Recommended Industrial Parks

As of May 20, 2020, there were altogether 66 A-level scenic spots in Hainan province, including six 5A-level scenic spots, 20 4A-level scenic spots, 28 3A-level scenic spots and 12 2A-level scenic spots. Nineteen cities and counties of Hainan province have more than 220 tourist attractions. Numbered among them are Sanya Nanshan Temple, Sanya Dongtian Park, The End of the Earth (Tianya Haijiao), Wuzhizhou Island and Lingshui Boundary Island. The YANODA Rainforest, rich in natural landscape and tourist attractions, is one of the world’s famous tourist scenic areas and attracts a large number of visitors.

Renowned tourist areas in Hainan include:

(1) Hainan Binlanggu Li and Miao Cultural Tourist Area

(2) Hainan YANODA Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone

(3) Hainan Boundary Island Scenic Area

(4) Hainan Dongtian Park Scenic Area

(5) Hainan Nanshan Cultural Tourist Area

V. Successful Hainan enterprises include:

(1) China Tourism Group (Hainan Tourism Section)

(2) Hainan Atlantis Business Travel Development Co Ltd

(3) Mission Hills Group (Hainan Tourism Section)

(4) Sanya Tourism and Culture Investment Group (Hainan Tourism Section)

(5) Hainan Chunguang Foodstuff Co Ltd

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China's resort island eyes 15 pct growth for tourism revenue

Xinhua | Updated: 2022-01-24 10:20

South China's tropical island province of Hainan targets tourism revenue growth of 15 percent and an increase of 10 percent in tourist numbers this year, an official said Sunday during the annual session of the provincial people's congress.

Aiming to become an international tourism and consumption center, Hainan will roll out a series of policies and guidelines for tourism development such as building theme parks and promoting night economy, said Sun Ying, director of the provincial department of tourism, culture, radio, television and sports.

Sun noted that Hainan will work to foster the development of large tourism and culture projects and provide more products to tourists from home and abroad.

More than 81 million domestic and overseas tourists visited Hainan in 2021, up 25.5 percent year on year. Hainan's total tourism revenue increased 58.6 percent over the previous year to about 138.4 billion yuan (about $21.8 billion).

China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035.

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In 2021, Hainan's tourism, culture, radio, television and sports industry development has achieved new results

The past 2021 has been an extraordinary year. The Communist Party of China has celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding, and the "14th Five-Year Plan" has officially started. Under the strong leadership of the provincial party committee and the provincial government, the province's tourism, culture, radio, television and sports system has seized the major opportunities for the construction of a free trade port, and has achieved solid results in promoting the development of tourism, culture, radio, television and sports with the construction of an international tourism consumption center. At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the tourism industry, one of the three leading industries in our province, handed in the answer sheet. In 2021, the province has received a total of 81.0043 million domestic and foreign tourists, a year-on-year increase of 25.5% and recovery to 97.5% of 2019. The province's total tourism revenue was 138.434 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.6% and an increase of 30.9% from 2019. The quality and efficiency of tourism development are more prominent. At the same time, behind the cultural performances, sports events, and TV programs were the unremitting efforts of our province's tourism and cultural system to meet the growing needs of the people for a better life. The increasing sense of gain and happiness of the people of the whole province has also provided a strong spiritual support and source of strength for the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.

The original Li Mountain Opera "Yo Yo Lu Ming" was performed in Sanya. Photography by Wu Hao. Polish up the Hainan tourism gold business card. On the last day of 2021, the closing ceremony of the 2021 (22nd) Hainan International Tourism Island Happy Festival and China Tourism Group's "One Island, One Family" Island Roaming Festival was held in Sanya. The ongoing "Qiongdao Chunmeng · Island Master Exploring the Island" tourism promotion activity on the island also opens an island "tourism and culture feast" for citizens and tourists on the island. The past 2021 is a critical year for the construction of Hainan International Tourism Consumption Center. Based on the tourism development goal of "one center, three paradises, and one highland", the Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture has created five themed IPs for promotion. For example, "Hainan Health Tour Happy Shopping", "Parent-Child Tour Youth Season", "Sunshine Island Happy Season", "Revisiting the Red Army Road in Qiongya and Chasing the Centennial Red Footprint", "Dating a 'Meeting' Free Trade Port" and so on. They have established a joint marketing model of "tourism, travel + tourism" composed of city and county tourism and cultural bureaus, industry associations, OTA platforms, and five major duty-free groups, and the branding effect of marketing and promotion has been significantly enhanced. More than 300 promotional activities of various types, such as "Me and Spring's Appointment 'Benefit'", "Hainan Summer 'Children' Young Hi", and the 2021 Hainan Health and Wellness Tourism Promotion Activities and the 2021 World Conference on Research and Tourism were staged successively. These activities have effectively tapped the consumption potential of the "three return flows" of shopping tourism, wellness tourism, and research tourism. The strong promotion of investment attraction and project construction has also accumulated energy for the development of Hainan's tourism industry. Since last year, the Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture has been actively promoting investment promotion, striving to achieve "recruiting the big and attracting the strong". They have successively held 8 investment promotion conferences in Beijing, Xi'an, Haikou, Chengdu, Shanghai and other places, organized and participated in more than 20 investment promotion activities, and held nearly 90 investment promotion seminars. They have facilitated the signing and construction of 32 tourism, cultural and sports industry projects in the province, more than 40 newly registered tourism, cultural and sports enterprises, and 4 substantive operation service projects. In one year, Caesars Tourism completed its relocation to Sanya, the all-terrain crossing project settled in Mission Hills Film Commune, and Lingshui R&F Ocean Paradise opened to welcome guests, showing the magnetic field effect of the construction of Hainan International Tourism and Consumption Center. As "tourism +" brings new experiences to citizens and tourists, the situation of "tourism everywhere, travel + tourism" continues to deepen, and the establishment of the global tourism demonstration area has achieved remarkable results. Since last year, Qionghai City, Wanning City, Ding'an County, Xiuying District of Haikou City, and Haitang District of Sanya City have been identified as provincial-level global tourism demonstration areas. Haichang Dream Ocean Never Sleeping City was rated as a national nighttime culture and tourism consumption gathering area. Five villages, including Liuke Village, Boao Town, Qionghai City, were included in the third batch of national key villages for rural tourism. Three towns including Boao Town in Qionghai City were included in the first batch of national key towns for rural tourism. The Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture assessed 2 provincial-level tourist resorts, 18 A-level tourist attractions, and 38 coconut-level rural tourist spots, identified 2 tourist towns, and 30 gold, silver, and bronze accommodations, and achieved a breakthrough in the high A-level red scenic spot. Wuzhishan, Wenchang, Tunchang and other cities and counties have achieved "zero" breakthroughs in high-level A-level tourist attractions.

On August 29, 2021, the rugby competition of the 13th Hainan National Fitness Games was held in Wanlv Park, Haikou. Photography by Ruan Chen. Continuously improve the soft power of Qiongdao culture. "Forward, forward, forward! Thousands of sails compete to break the long waves, and 100,000 soldiers descend to Hainan. The people have been fighting on the island for 23 years, and the red flag will not fall to welcome the dawn!" In the passionate opening music, the red flag rolled over the stage, and the Qiongya warriors stood between heaven and earth like giant trees. On July 4th and 5th, 2021, the modern Qiongju Opera "The Red Flag Will Not Fall" was performed for two consecutive performances at Beijing Meilanfang Grand Theater, celebrating the centennial birthday of the Communist Party of China. Over the past year, the Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture has adhered to the basic cultural needs of the people as the guide, and literary and artistic masterpieces have continued to emerge. The three plays "The Red Flag Will Not Fall", "The Homeland of the Li Nationality" and "You Yo Lu Ming" were selected for the excellent stage art exhibition jointly organized by the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party. The four plays "The Red Flag Will Not Fall", "The Homeland of the Li Nationality", "The Liberation of Hainan Island" and "Heroes, Go North" were selected for the "Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Party" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Over the past year, the celebration of the centenary of the founding of the party has been brilliant. The Hainan theatrical performance troupe composed of 100 teachers and students was invited to Beijing to participate in the theatrical performance "The Great Journey" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and was commended by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Focusing on the theme of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party, 18 high-quality repertoires such as "The Red Detachment of Women" and "Sing a Heart Song for the Party" were introduced. The Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture has held 3,830 grassroots mass cultural activities such as the Children's Folk Song Art Season, the Rural Talent Show, and the Village Evening, covering the elderly, the disabled, and migrant workers in urban and rural areas, benefiting more than 13 million people. The integrated construction of urban and rural public cultural service systems has been steadily advanced, making mass culture a spiritual force for achieving common prosperity. Excellent works of literature and art emerge, and various exhibitions are also uninterrupted. These exhibitions have left the audience lingering. Such as "Forbidden City, Hometown, Story - Huanghuali and Agarwood Cultural Relics Exhibition in the Palace Museum", "Green Gold - Tea Trade on the Maritime Silk Road", "Changle Weiyang - Datang Chang'an Cultural Relics Exhibition" and so on. In 2021, museums at all levels and types in the province have planned and launched more than 100 exhibitions of various types, implemented 296 educational activities, and attracted nearly 2 million visitors. Among them, "The Red Flag Will Not Fall for Twenty-Three Years - Qiongya Column Cultural Relics and Historical Materials Exhibition" was selected as the recommendation list of the Central Propaganda Department and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Over the past year, the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage has been steadily advanced, allowing people to see the huge vitality of "intangible cultural heritage". In 2021, 4 projects in our province were selected into the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects list, and 13 intangible cultural heritage representative projects were invited to participate in the Chinese Traditional Craft Invitational Exhibition. Activities such as the Hainan-South Africa Heritage Research Development Conference and the 2021 Hainan-South Africa Heritage Shopping Festival were held in the mode of "online + offline", which has effectively promoted the general public to participate in the protection of intangible cultural heritage and share the achievements of intangible cultural heritage protection. Promote the new development of radio and television. Being able to watch TV programs with stable signal and clear picture quality is the most comfortable thing for Wang Gengqing, a villager in Miantou Village, Huishan Town, Qionghai City in the past six months. Due to the remote location of Miantou Village, there has been no optical cable, and cable TV signals cannot be reached. In order to ensure that villagers in remote areas can listen to and enjoy radio and television well, the Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture regards "optimizing the coverage of radio and television in remote areas" as the first task of the party history study and education "I do practical things for the masses". They have solved the problem of people in remote areas listening to radio and television. In 2021, they solved a total of 2,541 households who watched radio and television in "urgency and hope", and ranked first in the province's second phase of the ten typical cases of "I do practical things for the masses". On the road to a well-off society in an all-round way, one cannot be missing. Improving the public service level of radio and television at the grassroots level, especially in the old and young, borderless and poverty-stricken areas, and effectively ensuring that the party's voice is transmitted to thousands of households, is just a microcosm of our province's radio and television system insisting on benefiting the people and serving the people's livelihood. Focusing on important time points and major events of the party and the country, and in-depth publicity on major themes such as poverty alleviation, the Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture guided the province's radio and television and online audio-visual industries to take active actions, and played a unique role in the radio and television industry. In 2021, the National Poverty Alleviation Summary and Commendation Conference was held in Beijing. Among them, our province's "Television Night School of Poverty Alleviation", as one of the 50 advanced collectives and 2 commended TV programs in the country, won the honorary title of "National Advanced Group for Poverty Alleviation". The fourth season of the large-scale party building theory interview special program "The Pursuit of Glory" was broadcast on Hainan Satellite TV, and was selected as a key radio and television program to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the party. Not only that, Hainan's radio and television industry has also further developed. Produced by a company introduced to Hainan, the TV series "Female Psychologist", which was filmed and reported in Hainan throughout the entire process, was awarded the No. 001 title of Qiongju Judgment, achieving a "zero breakthrough". The effect of Hainan's "natural studio" has become more and more prominent. A number of film and television dramas and variety shows such as "Ideal Shining in China" and "Our New Era" were filmed in Qiong. From vigorously promoting the integrated construction of urban and rural radio and television public service systems to giving full play to the characteristics and advantages of radio, television and online audio-visual industries, from actively serving poverty alleviation to organizing and promoting the creation of outstanding works on major themes. The radio and television industry in our province sings the main theme of the new era, and gathers the majestic force of unity and progress.

Tourists go out to sea on yachts in Sanya to experience marine sports. Photography by Wu Hao. Create a new situation in sports. Over the past year, around the construction of the national sports tourism demonstration zone, the Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture has compiled the "Implementation Plan for the Establishment of Hainan National Sports Tourism Demonstration Zone". They actively promote the construction of "one circle"(the sports tourism circle around Hainan Island), "five districts" (The northern comprehensive sports tourism area, the southern tropical coastal leisure resort sports tourism area, the eastern exhibition health sports tourism area, the western mountain and sea leisure sports tourism area, and the central tropical rainforest national characteristic sports tourism area), and "five poles"(Haikou, Sanya, Danzhou, Wanning, Qiongzhong) in the demonstration area. They have packaged the IP of sports events such as Beach Sports Carnival, Water Sports Season, Hi-Run Hainan, Cycling Hainan, Golf Series Events, and Youth Series Events. They successfully held the 13th Hainan Provincial National Fitness Games and 132 various national fitness events, among which many events such as the "National Games Surfing Competition" were held for the first time. Guaranteeing the national sports strategy and creating a sports winter training paradise is also an important direction of our province's sports work. In 2021, the "One Core" project of the National Sports Training Southern Base completed the conceptual planning and the preparation of the feasibility study report. The "multi-point" base ensured that 849 people from 14 national teams and 1,480 people from other provinces and cities came to Qiong for winter training, and made contributions to the preparation of athletes in Hainan. After the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese Table Tennis Association sent a letter of thanks to the Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture, thanking them for their full support and full guarantee of the Chinese table tennis team. The great progress in sports has also borne fruit. In the Tokyo Olympics and the 14th National Games, our province's athletes have achieved the best results since Hainan was established as a special economic zone. At the Tokyo Olympics, the athlete Gao Pan won the gold medal in the Taekwondo exhibition competition, and the athlete Bi Kun won the windsurfing RS: X bronze medal. This bronze medal is also the first time that China has won a medal in this event. At the 14th National Games, the Hainan delegation won 4 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze, and the mass sports competitions won 1 gold, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes. In the 2021 Chinese Football Association Women's Second Division, the Qiongzhong women's football team advanced to the finals and successfully won the qualification for the Chinese Football Association's First Division.

In the semi-finals of the 2021 Chinese Football Association Women's Second Division and the National Youth Campus Football College Women's Football League, Hainan Qiongzhong women's football team runs and celebrates after winning. Photos provided by the Organizing Committee. Let's talk about tourism, culture and sports in detail. The case of "work in peak season, study in off-season" tourism talent training case has been recognized by national ministries and has been replicated and promoted nationwide, and won the third prize of the second "Hainan Provincial Reform and Institutional Innovation Award". Hainan took the lead in the country to use insurance instead of cash or bank guarantee to pay the quality deposit for tourism services, and has released a total of 55.825 million yuan of occupied funds for 221 travel agencies. A total of 98.0599 million yuan of special funds for the development of key industries in the province was used to support 339 tourism projects, and 5 companies were supported by the provincial development and Reform Commission's "expansion of investment and stable growth" plan in 2021. Hainan has organized 64 various training courses such as lecture halls for the tourism and cultural industry and the improvement of the ability and quality of the tourism and cultural system, with a total of 69 training sessions, and the number of "online + offline" training has reached about 86,000. A series of 3,830 cultural and artistic activities have been carried out, benefiting more than 13 million people. Hainan has implemented a cultural relic safety project, approved and announced the protection scope of 28 cultural relics protection units, and announced the first batch of revolutionary cultural relics. Hainan has implemented a project to optimize the coverage of radio and television in remote areas of the province, and solved the problem of "urgency, difficulty, and hope" for 2,541 households to watch radio and television. Hainan has guaranteed 849 people from 14 national teams and 1,480 people from other provinces and cities to come to Qiong for winter training. Hainan has won a total of 30 advanced units in national mass sports from 2017 to 2020, and 30 advanced individuals.

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Hainan aims to become intl tourism consumption center by 2025

An aerial view of the high-end hotel group in Sanya Haitang Bay. [Photo/WeChat account: HainanFTP] 

The General Office of the People's Government of Hainan Province released a five-year action plan on Nov 10, aiming to build the island province into an international tourism consumption center by 2025.

According to the plan, the number of tourists in Hainan will increase from 64.55 million in 2020 to 110 million in 2025.

Hainan aims to create a robust tourism industry focusing on duty-free shopping, international medical care and overseas study industry by 2025. It aims to attract 500,000 overseas medical tourists, bring in 30 billion yuan ($4.69 billion) in international education consumption, and double off-shore duty-free trade.

The province will promote the transformation and upgrading of tourist attractions and create a series of tourist attractions above 4A level. Government departments will support the improvement of travel agencies, scenic spots, hotels, and theaters.

In order to attract foreign tourists, Hainan will set up a multilingual official tourism website and add English signs at important sites.

In addition, the province will introduce policies and measures to facilitate the entry, exit, and stay of foreigners. It will optimize air routes, add Hainan's direct international routes to major passenger sources, and promote the creation of a tourism economic cooperation circle for Southeast Asia.

Hainan will also increase the proportion of mid-to-high-end hotels, introduce leading international hotel brands, and promote the branding, internationalization and high-end development of high-end hotels.

Meanwhile, it will attract professional companies and platforms to help create a series of local-style high-end homestays and guide the development of homestay clusters.

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HAIKOU — More than 81 million domestic and overseas tourists visited South China's tropical island province of Hainan in 2021, up 25.5 percent year-on-year, which is equivalent to 97.5 percent of the number in 2019, local authorities said on Jan 13.

Hainan's total tourism revenue increased 58.6 percent over the previous year to about 138.4 billion yuan (about $21.7 billion), up 30.9 percent compared to 2019, according to the provincial department of tourism, culture, radio, television and sports.

Last year, Hainan saw the inking of agreements and launch of 32 tourism projects as well as the establishment of over 40 new companies related to tourism, culture and sports.

The province reported 49.5 billion yuan of offshore duty-free shopping in 2021, up 80 percent year-on-year, with more than 70 million items purchased by 6.72 million shoppers.

The per capita shopping amount registered in the offshore duty-free shops of Hainan logged 7,368 yuan, an increase of 20.2 percent compared to 2020.

China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035.

• China's resort island of Hainan receives over 81m tourists in 2021
• Hainan free trade port attracts projects worth over $5b
• China's Hainan sees soaring duty-free sales in 2021

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The regional differences and influencing factors of tourism development on Hainan Island, China

Shengrui zhang.

1 Management College of Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

2 School of Tourism and Geography Science, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

Associated Data

The tourism data underlying the results presented in the study are available from the Yearbook of Hainan Tourism Statistics (2010-2020) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure through the following link: https://data.cnki.net/ . There are no ethical or legal restrictions on sharing a de-identified data set.

Exploring the spatial pattern of tourism resources and tourism economy is vital to improve the utilization efficiency of tourism resources and promote sustainable tourism development. This research investigated the quantity and types of tourism resources and analyzed the spatial patterns of tourism resources on Hainan Island from the perspectives of spatial variation and spatial association. The spatial and temporal pattern of the number of tourists and tourism revenue during 2010–2019 were further analyzed. The influencing factors of tourism development were explored based on the geographic detector. The results showed that 10425 tourism resources exist on Hainan Island, and the type of buildings and facilities had the largest number of tourism resources. The geological landscape, astronomical phenomena and meteorological landscapes, buildings and facilities, ruins and remains, tourism commodities, and human activities showed significant spatial agglomeration. Domestic tourism was far more developed than inbound tourism in terms of the number of tourists and tourism revenue. However, the spatial difference of tourism resources and tourism economy was apparent on Hainan Island. Factor analysis showed that the quantity of hotels, the proportion of tertiary industry in the GDP, and the regional population were the most influential factors for the distribution of tourism resources, while the density of the road network, the quantity of hotels, the per capita GDP, the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, the regional population, and the quantity of tourism resources showed obvious influences on the tourism economy of Hainan Island. Interactions of the factors mainly fell into three types: synergistic increases, single factor weakening, and nonlinear weakening. It is suggested that the local government should fully exploit diversity types of tourism resources on Hainan Island to attract more tourists and improve the tourism revenue; improving the inbound tourism, and to strengthen the construction of road network on Hainan Island.

Introduction

As the largest island completely located in the tropical region of China, Hainan has rich tourism resources, unique cultural customs, and favorable conditions for the development of tourism [ 1 ]. Hainan’s spatial advantages and favorable policies have provided opportunities for the high-quality development of tourism in the area. Since the implementation of the international tourism island strategy in 2009, Hainan’s tourism industry had achieved rapid development. By 2019, Hainan’s tourism revenue accounted for about 19.92% of the area’s GDP—much higher than the global average (6.61%) and average level in China (11.05%) [ 2 ]. Notably, the offshore duty-free policy greatly promoted the development of domestic tourism. In 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 limited the development of outbound tourism, which further boosted domestic tourism development in China, indicating that the continued growth trend of Hainan’s tourism would not change in the new era [ 3 ]. On the other hand, there has been a homogenized development trend in Hainan’s tourism, which could easily lead to vicious competition and threaten the coordinated development of Hainan’s tourism [ 4 ]. In the relevant studies on Hainan, scholars have focused on the development of tourism resources [ 5 , 6 ], tourism management [ 7 – 9 ], problems in the development of the tourism industry and countermeasures [ 10 – 12 ], impacts of tourism development on local environment and economy [ 13 – 16 ].

Island tourism refers to the phenomenon of the development of tourism on an island that advances the establishment of family guesthouses, corporate hotels, and other related commercial areas, as well as an integration of the island’s scenic spots and urban developments [ 17 ]. Tourism resources of island were special with its natural and human attractions, such as coral reefs, unique flora and fauna and minority culture. Tourism resource evaluation is a hot spot in island tourism research. Priskin constructed a natural resource evaluation index system including 29 indicators from four aspects: attractiveness, accessibility, infrastructure status, and environmental degradation, and evaluated the natural resources of island in central Western Australia [ 18 ]. Li et al. built an evaluation system of 26 indicators including resource value, development status, location, transportation, environmental capacity, and economic benefits, and applied the analytic hierarchy process and projection tracking model to evaluate the development potential of tourism resources for island counties in China [ 19 ]. Some scholars also focused on the spatial structure of the tourism resources on island. Yang et al. studied the junction point, path and domain constituting tourism spatial structure of island destination and propose optimal suggestion for the tourism spatial structure [ 20 ]. Shen and Tian took 41 high quality tourism attractions in Hainan island as an example, analyzed the spatial structure and its evolution based on nearest neighbor index and geographic concentration index [ 6 ]. However, due to the difficulties of acquiring exhaustive data of tourism resources on island, studies on the regional differences of tourism resources on tourism islands were still lack.

Tourism revenue and the number of tourists were important topic related to tourism development. Jang et al. estimated the lost tourism revenue in Geoje Island from the 2011 marine debris pollution event in South Korea base on the analysis of visitor count [ 21 ]. Kristiana et al. found that the improving of quality of facilities and services at tourism destination could help increase the number of tourists [ 22 ]. Joshi et al. found that the international tourism revenue was more responsive to policies and regulations favoring tourism, abundance of natural resources, richness in cultural heritage, and health and hygiene than they are to infrastructure, safety, price competitiveness, and other variables [ 23 ]. Chen et al. pointed out that climatic seasonal factors have significant pulling and pushing effects on seasonal patterns of tourism demand, with temperature being the main factor [ 24 ]. However, comprehensive and quantitative studies on the influencing factors of the natural, social, and economic aspects on the tourism development remained insufficient. It would be helpful to measure different factors’ impacts on the tourism resources, tourism revenue and the number of tourists. Unlike previous studies mostly explored the drivers from the perspective of the time dynamic, this study would analyze the influencing factors from the perspective of spatial difference based on a novel method named geographical detectors.

Overall, this paper will comprehensively describe the tourism development pattern including tourism resources, tourism revenue and number of tourists of Hainan Island and identifying the influencing factors. First, the structural types and quantitative characteristics of tourism resources on Hainan Island will be analyzed and the spatial pattern of tourism resources at township level will be described. Then, this paper will analyze the development of Hainan’s tourism economy from two perspectives of the quantity of tourists and tourism revenue in 2010–2019. Finally, the influencing factors and the influencing mechanisms of Hainan’s tourism development will be analyzed. Optimization measures will be proposed to improve the efficiency of tourism resources exploitation and realize sustainable tourism development on Hainan Island.

Data and methods

Data source.

The data include tourism resources, tourism economic data, and DEM data. The divisions of prefectural and county units were based on the administrative divisions of 2018 to avoid data inconsistencies caused by adjustments to the administrative divisions over time ( Fig 1a ). Due to the relatively small number of tourists and the lack of relevant data, we did not analyze the situation in Sansha City. In addition, since the Yangpu area had not yet established an independent tourism administration department at the time of this study, the area’s relevant data were incorporated into Danzhou City.

The tourism resource data were acquired from four sources: academic documents, the tourism planning of the counties, the official travel websites of the counties, and field surveys carried out in 2018. The attributes and spatial coordinates of tourism resources were obtained via field research, which covered 18 counties and cities on Hainan Island.

The tourism economic data were acquired from Hainan Statistical Yearbook (2010–2020) and China Statistical Yearbook (2010–2020). According to the classification of tourism economic indicators in the statistical yearbook, we selected two indicators, the quantity of tourists and tourism revenue, to describe the development of Hainan’s tourism economy. The DEM data were obtained from the National Basic Geographic Information System database at a resolution of 500 m ( Fig 1b ).

Methodology

This paper analyzes the spatial pattern of tourism development on Hainan Island from three perspectives: spatial differences, spatial autocorrelation, and spatial agglomeration effects. The spatial differences are expressed as the coefficient of variation ( CV ), while the global and local Moran’s I indexes are used to test the global and local spatial associations of tourism development. The influence of each factor is measured using the Geographic Detector.

Spatial differences

The coefficient of variation ( CV ) was used to describe the spatial differences in tourism resources, which were calculated as follows [ 25 , 26 ]:

where CV refers to the coefficient of variation, SD is the standard variance, n is the number of units at different scales, X i refers to the number of the objects of tourism resources in the i th administrative unit (i = 1, 2…, n.), and X ¯ refers to the average objects of tourism resources in each administrative unit. Here, the larger the CV is, the greater the spatial variation of tourism resources will be.

Spatial association indicators

In this paper, Moran’s index was adopted to conduct the global autocorrelation analysis of tourism resources, and the global correlation of tourism resources was calculated using the following calculation formula [ 27 ]:

where n is the number of administrative areas, X i and X j are the number of tourism resources in i administrative unit and j administrative unit, X ¯ is the average, and w ij is the spatial weight. The values of the global Moran’s I range from −1 to +1. Positive values indicate the clustering of similar values across geographic space. In contrast, negative values indicate that the neighboring values are more dissimilar than expected by chance.

The local autocorrelation coefficient (LISA) was used to express the local agglomeration of tourism resources, including high–high agglomeration, low–low agglomeration, high–low agglomeration, and low–high agglomeration [ 27 ]:

where S i 2 refers to the variance of tourism resources, and other variables are consistent with those described in (3). A positive Local Moran’s I value indicates high–high or low–low agglomeration, which means that the quantity of tourist resources is similar in two adjacent administrative units. A negative Local Moran’s I value indicates high–low or low–high agglomeration, which means that the quantity of tourism resources is very different in the adjacent administrative unit.

Geo-detector

The factor detector was used to analyze the relative influence of various factors on the tourism development of Hainan and the interaction detector was used to analyze the interaction mechanisms among each factor. The influencing indicators of tourism development was selected based on three perspectives: natural conditions, social environment, and economic development. The natural indicators included relief amplitude and average elevation. The social environment included the quantity of residents, minority populations, road network density, and quantity of hotels. The economic development indicators included the per capita gross domestic product and the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP.

Factor detectors explore the potential factors or explanatory variables from the perspective of spatial heterogeneity and can be used to quantitatively determine the relative influence of all possible influencing factors [ 28 ]. The calculation formula is as follows:

where p is the influence of one factor; n is the stratification of variable Y or factor X ; n i and n are the number of units in layer i and the whole region, respectively; and σ i 2 and σ 2 are the variance of the Y values. If factor x completely affects the development of tourism, then p tends to be 1. If factor x has nothing to do with the tourism development data, then p tends to be 0. The range of the p value is [0,1], where a greater value of p indicates a greater influence of the factor.

The interaction detector is mainly used to identify whether different influencing factors exert interaction influences on tourism development. If the results show that an interaction influence exists, then this method can identify the type of interaction and reflect whether the combined effect of the two factors will increase or weaken the factor’s explanatory power for tourism development. In this study, the interaction detector quantitatively revealed the interactions of two possible influencing factors, as shown below [ 28 ]:

In the ArcGIS platform, two layers of impact factors (such as M and N ) can be superimposed to form layer O . Then, the P values of M , N , and O can be calculated and substituted into the above formula to determine whether the two factors feature interactions and whether these interaction are enhanced or weakened.

The factor analysis and interaction analysis of the influencing factors in this study were all based on the GD package in the R language, which can automatically determine the best discretization method and amount of discretization for each factor. For the discretization of all factors in this study, the equidistant method, natural discontinuous point method, and quartile method were adopted, and the discretization quantity was selected from the 4–6 discretization divisions with the greatest influence.

Numerical features of tourism resources

The results indicated a total of 10425 tourism resource objects on Hainan Island, while the numbers of different types of tourism resources were significantly different. According to the National Standard for the “Classification, investigation and evaluation of tourism resources” (GB/T18972-2017), the tourism resources were divided into 8 main types, 23 sub-types, and 110 fundamental types. In the case of Hainan Island, Buildings and Facilities was the largest main type, and included 4807 tourism resource objects, followed by Geological Landscapes, Water Landscapes, and Ruins and Remains with more than 1000 objects. By contrast, the tourism resource objects of Tourism Commodities, Human Activities, Biological Landscapes, and Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes accounted for about 10% of the total. In terms of subtypes, practical buildings and facilities, cultural landscape complexes, natural landscape complexes, and lakes were the major types of the tourism resources. However, the Industrial products, Astronomical landscapes, and Natural markers and natural phenomena were relatively rare in Hainan Island ( Table 1 ).

The distribution of tourism resources was unevenly in Hainan Island. Haikou City, Sanya City, and Wenchang City had the largest number of tourism resources, including 1707, 1037, and 904 objects, respectively. By contrast, the number of tourism resource objects in Lingao County, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, and Dongfang City were only 303, 269, and 213, respectively ( Fig 2 ). The structure of the different types of the tourism resources were various over space. Buildings and Facilities was the major type for most cities and counties, including Haikou City, Sanya City, Wenchang City, Qionghai City, Chengmai County, Dingan County, Lingao County. Some areas were dominated by Buildings and Facilities and Geological Landscapes, including Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, Dongfang City and Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County. By contrast, Wuzhishan City, Tunchang County, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, and Danzhou City had a more balanced structure with multiple types such as Geological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, Water Landscapes, as well as Ruins and Remains. Only Baisha Li Autonomous County was dominated by Geological Landscapes tourism types.

Spatial differences and spatial autocorrelation of tourism resources at the township level on Hainan Island

Influenced by the natural and cultural environment, the quantity of tourism resources varies greatly at different scales on Hainan Island. The overall coefficient of variation was 61.26% of Hainan Island. At the township level, the CV s of the Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, and Human Activities were all higher than 80% ( Table 2 ), indicating that the spatial differences between these tourism resources are significant. Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes were mainly concentrated in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, and Wuzhishan City, accounting for about 51.51% of the total. Buildings and Facilities were mainly concentrated in Haikou, Sanya, and Wenchang, accounting for about 50.09% of the total. Human Activities were mainly concentrated in Qionghai, Haikou, and Sanya, accounting for about 40.96% of the total.

** indicates that the value is significant at a 0.01 level.

The Global Moran’s I values of Geological Landscapes, Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, Ruins and Remains, Tourism Commodities, and Human Activities were all significant at a level of 0.01 ( Table 2 ), which indicates that these six types of border tourism resources all feature obvious spatial agglomeration phenomena at the township scale. Conversely, the Global Moran’s I of the total amount of tourism resources, Water Landscapes, and Biological Landscapes were not significant ( Table 2 ), indicating a relatively random distribution of all tourism resources and these two types of tourism resources at the township scale. Therefore, local autocorrelation analysis was only applied to Geological Landscapes, Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, Ruins and Remains, Tourism Commodities, and Human Activities ( Fig 3 ).

The hot/cold spatial patterns of Geological Landscapes, Water Landscapes, and Ruins and Remains were similar. The hot spots were concentrated in the southern region of Hainan Island. The cold spots were mainly concentrated in the northeast Hainan Island, and Haikou City and Chengmai County were the lowest density areas ( Fig 3a, 3b and 3d ). By contrast, the types of Tourism Commodities and Human Activity were mainly concentrated in the central and eastern parts of Hainan Island. High-high clusters were mainly distributed in the towns of Tayang, Boao, Tanmen, etc. The cold spots of Tourism Commodities were mainly concentrated in the northern towns of Haikou City, Wenchang City, Chengmai County, and Lingao County ( Fig 3e ), while the cold spots of Human Activity were located in the north of Haikou City and Wenchang City, in the northwest of Danzhou City, and in the southeast of Sanya City and Lingshui County, including Bolian Town, Dongge Town, Penglai Town, and Leiming Town, which all had low distribution density ( Fig 3f ).

The spatial pattern of hot/cold spots of Buildings and Facilities were different from the other types of tourism resources. The hot spots was concentrated in the northeast and the south of the island. At the township level, Longhua District, Qiongshan District, Meilan District, Xiuying District, Huiwen Town of Wenchang City, Boao Town of Qionghai City, and Yazhou District of Sanya City all showed high–high clusters. The cold spots were mainly concentrated in the central and western regions of Hainan Island, including Maodao Town, Changhao Town, Yaxing Town, Wangxia Town, Jiangbian Township, and Donghe Town ( Fig 3c ).

Spatiotemporel pattern of the tourism economy on Hainan Island from 2010 to 2019

Generally, the average number of tourists in Hainan totaled 51.41 million per year during 2010–2019, with a cumulative growth rate of 15.70%. In 2013–2014, the number of tourists in Hainan experienced the highest growth rate (30.40%). During 2010 to 2019, the average tourism revenue of the island reached 9.21 billion dollars, with a cumulative growth rate of 19.31%; the highest growth rate, 20.82%, was recorded in 2016–2017.

The development of the tourism economy on Hainan Island has been dominated by domestic tourism, with inbound tourism as a supplement. In terms of domestic tourism, the average number of tourists on the island reached 50.56 million per year in the past decade, with a cumulative growth rate of 15.83%. The highest growth rate occurred in 2013–2014, up to 31.31%. During this period, the average tourism revenue of all counties and cities in Hainan reached 8.63 billion dollars, with a cumulative growth rate of 19.68%; highest growth rate of 25.64% occurred in 2016–2017 ( Fig 4a ).

In terms of inbound tourism, the average number of tourism on Hainan Island during the 10 years was 0.89 million per year, with a cumulative growth rate of 10.14%. The cumulative growth rate of inbound tourism revenue was 14.81%, which is slightly higher than the national average (14.06%). However, the development of inbound tourism on Hainan Island experienced an obvious fluctuation during the ten years. In 2010–2012, the average annual growth rate of inbound tourism was 23.01%, and the average annual growth rate of inbound tourism revenue was 8.08%. During 2013–2015, the inbound number of tourists and tourism revenue decreased at an average annual changing rate of -19.57% and -25.08%, respectively. In 2016–2019, the inbound tourism development recovered, with an average annual growth rate of 38.46% for inbound number of tourists, and an average annual growth rate of 66.65% for inbound tourism revenue ( Fig 4b ).

The spatial pattern of number of tourists was present in Fig 5 , and the pattern of tourism revenue was ignored because the lack of statistic data for each city and county in Hainan. It is shown that the domestic number of tourists was highest in Haikou city in the north and Sanya city in the south of Hainan Island. The eastern parts of the island also attracted a large number of domestic tourists, followed by the western parts of the island. The central parts of Hainan Island had the least tourists. By contrast, the number of inbound tourists was low for most areas on Hainan Island, and the eastern parts of Hainan Island along the sea attracted more tourists. Sanya and Haikou cities were most popular for international tourists.

By comparing the spatial patterns of tourism resources and number of tourists (Figs ​ (Figs4 4 and ​ and5), 5 ), an apparent spatial difference could be found between them. The spatial pattern of domestic number of tourists was most similar to that of the tourism resource type of Buildings and Facilities, where was high in the northeastern and southwestern parts and low in the western and central parts of the island. However, the other types of tourism resources such as Geological Landscape, Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Ruins and Remains, Tourist Commodities, and Human Activities all had an obvious spatial dislocation phenomenon with the distribution of domestic tourists and inbound tourists. This phenomenon may indicate an insufficient exploitation of these types of tourism resources.

The influence and interaction of factors on tourism development on Hainan Island

Geographical detector was used to analyze the influence of factors on tourism resources and number of tourists. The influence on tourism revenue was not processed due to the lack of spatial distribution data of the tourism revenue. Three factors showed significant influence on the tourism resources: the quantity of hotels, the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, and regional population ( Table 3 ). The quantity of hotels had the greatest explanatory power (0.7707), indicating that the spatial patterns of tourism resources were consistent with the distribution of hotels. The main reason for this result is that quantity of hotels and the number of tourism resources can objectively reflect regional tourism reception capacity, giving the two factors a strong correlation. The second influential factor was the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, whose explanatory power reached 0.7383. It was because tertiary industry drove the development of regional tourism resources. The explanatory power of population scale was also high (0.7051), mainly because an increase in population size correlated with an increase in the tourist market, indicating a higher demand for tourism resources development.

** indicate the factors were significant at a level of 0.05, and

* indicate the factors were significant at a level of 0.1.

Six factors had significant influence on the number of tourists. Road network density, quantity of hotels, per capita gross domestic product, and the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP were significant at a level of 0.05, while population and the quantity of tourism resources were significant at a level of 0.1 ( Table 3 ). Notably, the explanatory power of quantity of hotels reached 0.9651, mainly because the development of hotels (the main reception facilities) was closely related to the choices of tourists. The explanatory power of per capita gross domestic product was 0.9484, mainly because the higher the per capita GDP is, the greater the residents’ abilities to travel and the larger the tourism market will be. In addition, road network density had a high influence because higher density of the road network could greatly increase the accessibility of tourism resources. The proportion of tertiary industry in GDP also had a significant impact, because a larger proportion of tertiary industry will lead to greater development of the local service industry and higher-quality service facilities. Moreover, a greater number of tourism resources in an area means that more tourists will be attracted to that area, thus contributed to the increase of tourists.

The interactions of the influencing factors on tourism resources showed that the interaction effects of natural conditions, social environment, and economic development mainly fell into three types: synergistic increases, single factor weakening, and nonlinear weakening ( Fig 6a ). The interaction between road network density and quantity of hotels had the largest influence on the spatial patterns of tourism resources, reaching 0.8647. The interaction between natural factors was synergistically enhance, while the interactions with social and economic factors presented various types. In particular, the interactions between relief amplitude and other social and economic factors were weakening, while the interactions between average elevation and socioeconomic factors were mostly synergistically enhance. Various types of interactions were observed among the social factors. For example, the interaction between the quantity of hotels and the population and the interaction between road network density and quantity of hotels were all synergistically enhanced. However, interaction between ethnic minority population and other factors were mostly weakening. The interactions of social factors and economic factors, interactions between economic factors were mainly synergistic enhance.

The interactions of the influencing factors on the number of tourists were mainly synergistical increasing and single-factor weakening; only part of the interaction presented nonlinear weakening ( Fig 6b ). The interaction between GDP per capita and the quantity of hotels had the largest influence on the number of tourists, reaching 0.9732. The interactions between natural factors showed synergistic enhancement, while the interactions between natural factors and social factors or economic factors were mainly single-factor weakening. In addition, the interactions between the social and economic factors or tourism resources were mainly synergistically enhanced. Only the interactions between the size of the ethnic minority population and some economic development factors and tourism resources were weakened.

Conclusions

In this study, we established a comprehensive database of tourism resources, number of tourists and tourism revenue on Hainan Island during 2010–2019. Based on the dataset, the spatial patterns of tourism resources and the tourism economy of Hainan Island were analyzed. The influencing factors and their interactions were further analyzed based on geographical detector.

The main conclusions of this paper are as follows: (1) 10425 tourism resource objects was investigated on Hainan Island. Buildings and Facilities was the largest main type, and Practical Buildings and Facilities was the largest sub-type. Haikou City and Dongfang City were the county-level units with the largest and smallest numbers of tourism resources, respectively; (2) The spatial differences in Hainan’s tourism resources were significant, and the CV s of the Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, Buildings and Facilities, and Human Activities were all higher than 80%. Geological Landscapes, Astronomical Phenomena and Meteorological Landscapes, and Ruins and Remains all showed high–high clusters in the southwest and low–low clusters in the northeast of the island, respectively. Buildings and Facilities were concentrated in the northeast and southwest of the island and dispersed in the central area. Tourism Commodities and Human Activities were gathered in the central and eastern areas and dispersed in other areas; (3) During 2010–2019, the cumulative growth rates for the number of tourists and tourism revenue on the island were 15.70% and 19.31%, respectively. The domestic tourism was far more developed than the inbound tourism based on the data of tourism revenue and tourists. In addition, the spatial difference between tourism resources and tourism economy was apparent on Hainan Island; (4) The quantity of hotels, proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, and regional population had a significant impact on the spatial patterns of tourism resources on Hainan Island, while the density of the road network, the number of hotels, the per capita GDP, the proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, the regional population, and the quantity of tourism resources were found to had significantly effects on the spatial patterns of the number of tourists on Hainan Island. The interactions of factors of tourism resources mainly fell into three types: synergistic increases, single factor weakening, and nonlinear weakening, while the interactions of the number of tourists were mainly synergistical increasing and single-factor weakening.

Based on the above results, three suggestions were proposed for the sustainable development of tourism on Hainan Island. First, the tourism resource and their attractions for tourists showed an obvious spatial dislocation phenomenon. It indicates that the tourism resources on Hainan Island were not sufficiently developed. The local government should take advantages of the diversity of different types of tourism resources on Hainan Island to attract more tourists and improve the tourism revenue. Second, the development of inbound tourism on Hainan Island is less developed compared with the domestic tourism. It is wise to learn from international famous tourism islands such as the Hawaii to create an international tourist destination. Third, according to the factor analysis, the density of road network would greatly promote the growth of the tourism market, and could result a synergistic enhance effects when interact with other factors. Thus, the government should strengthen the construction of basic road network on Hainan Island.

Due to the lack of county-level tourism revenue data, we only analyzed the spatial pattern of the quantity of tourists. In the future, the spatial patterns of the differences between tourism resources and tourism economy deserved further quantitative exploration. Also, the evaluation of the tourism resources could be done in the future with multi-sources such as social network.

Funding Statement

This paper was supported by the Youth Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 42001243), the Humanities and Social Science Project of the Ministry of Education (grant number: 20YJC630212) and the Youth Program of Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (grant number: ZR2020QD008).

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China’s Hainan Island Aims to Be a Duty-Free Paradise for Tourists

Casey Hall, Reuters

April 16th, 2023 at 9:19 AM EDT

The "Hawaii of China" drew 26.8 million visitors in the first three months of the year partly thanks to its duty-free shopping and its strategic courting of foreign brands to its stores.

Sean O'Neill

Representatives of over 3,000 brands, including Burberry and Estee Lauder, descended on China’s Hainan this week to show off their latest wares, hoping to cash in on a post-COVID consumer rebound that has kicked off on the island known for its duty-free shopping.

Around 300,000 people are expected to visit the China International Consumer Products Expo in Hainan between April 10-15 in what is seen as a comeback for the holiday destination, after it was badly hurt last year by China’s tough COVID-19 curbs, including a lengthy lockdown that stranded thousands of tourists there.

The province, known at home as the “Hawaii of China,” has since 2020 become a major shopping destination in the country as Beijing pushed its travel retail status. It especially boomed during COVID, attracting Chinese shoppers unable to travel abroad due to closed borders.

That has meant that while a rebound in consumption spending has remained sluggish in many parts of the country as the economy struggles to recover, it has started off strong in Hainan after China ended its zero-COVID policy in December: duty free sales on the island rose 20% over this year’s seven-day Spring Festival holiday period in January.

And China further plans to elevate its status: by 2025, it plans to make the whole island duty free, essentially expanding the 10% to 40% cheaper prices on goods from beauty, to alcohol and luxury products from 12 existing duty free malls to the entire province.

That has made high-end global consumer firms keen to attend the expo as a way of demonstrating their commitment to China, industry executives said.

“Last year here was kind of quiet but this year’s expo has been booming,” said Amy Imbriaco, general manager of Greater China for luggage and bag maker Tumi. Some 3,300 brands participated this year, versus 2,800 last year, organizers said.

LVMH, the world’s largest luxury company, reported a 17% rise in first-quarter sales, more than double analysts’ expectations, largely to due to pent-up China demand.

Comestic giants such as Japan’s Shiseido promoted products with exclusive packaging for the Hainan market while luxury car brands such as Bentley, Porsche and Ferrari showed off shiny high performance vehicles at the venue.

In the wine and spirits pavilion, makeshift bars were set up to provide taste tests of whiskey and wine, while Diageo offered soft serve Bailey’s-flavored ice cream.

“This year in particular we feel like every exhibitor is presenting new brands and products in order to capture the opportunity presented by China’s consumption recovery,” said Ella Yu, head of corporate communications for Japanese beauty conglomerate Shiseido in China.

($1 = 6.8677 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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Photo credit: Aerial photo shows the Boao Forum for Asia International Conference Center in Boao Town, Qionghai City, southernmost China's Hainan Province, 21 March, 2023. Photo by ChinaImages/Sipa USA. Source: Sipa US/Alamy Live News via Hainan Tourism.

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The Art of China’s Li Brocade: Weaving Tradition and Innovation

The art of Li Brocade is deeply rooted in Chinese culture, combining inherited skills with the continuous pursuit of innovation and creativity. Chaoying Zhang, a Li weaver, is committed to promoting this craft and improving the livelihoods of her community and training future generations of weavers in the art of brocade, while safeguarding their intellectual property (IP).

For over 3,000 years, the art of brocade weaving has been deeply rooted in the culture of Li people who are indigenous to China’s Hainan Island. The term “Li” refers to a number of different groups, including, Gai, Ji, Bendi, Meifu, and Jiamao. Each group has distinctive garments, designs and accessories, that reflect their deep cultural heritage and aesthetic standards, which have endured the test of time.

Li Brocade is an expression of the earliest textile techniques and is considered a “ living fossil ” in Chinese textile history. “Without a doubt, the contributions of the Li people have shaped the diverse range of folk costumes and activities found in the region. Li Brocade is a testament to the labor, wisdom, and artistic spirit of the Li women and holds a significant place in traditional Li culture,” explains Chaoying Zhang, founder of Baisha Canran Li Brocade Handicrafts, a cooperative that promotes the art of Li Brocade in China.

For centuries, the Li people have developed a comprehensive array of techniques that encompass spinning, dyeing, weaving, and embroidery. In 2006, these artisanal skills were officially recognized by the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China , and were subsequently included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2009.

These traditional techniques are a flag bearer of the Li people’s deep-rooted cultural heritage and reflect the ingenuity, creativity and artistry of the Li women who craft these beautiful fabrics.

Empowering communities

The lifeblood of this ancient craft has been the transmission of skills across generations. In recent decades, however, the number of women practicing the craft has declined, posing a threat to the continuity of traditional Li textile techniques and practices.

To help ensure the craft thrives for years to come, Chaoying Zhang, who learned how to weave Li Brocade from her grandmother, established Baisha Canran Li Brocade Handicrafts in 2016 with the backing of her parents and the local government. "It is crucial for me to raise awareness about the unique appeal of Li Brocade culture in Hainan," she says.

Preserving Li Brocade serves the dual purpose of protecting the Li people’s rich cultural heritage and fostering new ideas and creativity to ensure this age-old craft continues to evolve. “By recognizing and appreciating traditional weaving skills and encouraging innovation, the art of Li Brocade will retain its significance as a symbol of tradition and progress,” explains Chaoying Zhang.

To ensure the preservation of Li Brocade skills, Baisha Canran Li Brocade Handicrafts organizes public training courses that offer practical guidance and hands-on experience of the craft. "My community brings together women from the villages and regularly organizes public training sessions on the traditional skills of Li Brocade. Qualified trainees receive materials to make Li Brocade at home. This allows them to follow our standardized specifications and procedures when using materials, and patterns and well-established production practices. In this way, the products they make meet our quality standards and specifications.”  

As an ardent champion of Li Brocade, Chaoying Zhang works tirelessly to raise awareness and foster appreciation of this ancient craft. "We need to promote Li brocade around the world and share the compelling story of Hainan, an island steeped in history that spans thousands of years."

I hope that the culture of Li Brocade can be understood and appreciated by the public. Chaoying Zhang, founder of Baisha Canran Li Brocade Handicrafts

Crafting tradition with the Gen Z

Recognizing the importance of attracting young people to the craft to ensure its continues to thrive, Chaoying Zhang started sharing short videos of her designs on Douyin, one of the most popular social media platforms in China among GenZers.

In this way, her aim is to spark interest in traditional Li crafts, showcase its modern designs and ultimately introduce households across China to the rich cultural heritage of the Li people. "My goal is to generate greater interest in the heritage and traditional culture of Li Brocade and incorporate it into the daily lives of many families," she says. Chaoying Zhang also organizes regular online and offline events to inspire young people to engage in preserving Li brocade craftsmanship. "These events are capturing the attention of consumers and younger generations. We have to inject new vitality into Hainan's Li brocade so that, over time, we are able to transform it into a masterpiece of local culture.”

Together with young community members, Chaoying Zhang actively participates in activities organized by international organizations like WIPO, as well as various national organizations and social groups, to promote the Li people’s intangible cultural heritage . "It is crucial for young Li individuals to comprehend the significance of our intangible cultural heritage and how it can be protected with IP rights. As curious explorers, young people possess immense potential to grasp and appreciate the concept of IP rights.”

The participation of youth will enhance the creativity of the designs and weaving techniques that characterize Li brocade. Chaoying Zhang, founder of Baisha Canran Li Brocade Handicrafts

The role of IP for Li Brocade

IP rights play a crucial role in preserving and promoting the intangible cultural heritage of the Li people. Various initiatives supported by the local community, central government, and WIPO, have succeeded in raising awareness among artisans of how IP rights can support their work, enabling them to generate income from their craft, hone their skills and support the craft’s long-term development.

“As the government and society have emphasized IP protection, we have realized that registering trademarks, copyrights, and patents for our Li Brocade products can significantly boost their competitiveness and profitability,” Chaoying Zhang notes. “That is why we are paying more and more attention to the protection of IP rights related to Li Brocade,” she adds.

“Oriental Li Brocade” is now a registered geographical indication (GI) and trademark. Patents and utility models have been secured for some weaving equipment used to produce Li Brocade, and selected Li Brocade works are also protected by copyright.”

“By utilizing these IP rights, Li Brocade weavers have been able to generate new designs and improve their weaving techniques. Some weavers have even established their own businesses to market and sell their products,” Chaoying Zhang explains. Promoting greater awareness among Li Brocade weavers of the benefits of protecting their work with IP rights is an important part of Chaoying Zhang’s outreach work.

Through strategic use of IP rights, weavers of Li Brocade are able to ensure the quality and authenticity of their craft. These rights also enable them to defend themselves against any unauthorized usage or misrepresentation of their work. “These measures protect and celebrate the brocade produced by the Li people and helps to ensure that this exquisite craft continues to thrive and is widely appreciated for years to come.”

We aim to increase awareness among Li weavers about the benefits of IP protection and its vital role in supporting the long-term development of Li Brocade. Chaoying Zhang, founder of Baisha Canran Li Brocade Handicrafts

Chaoying Zhang is particularly keen to equip young Li people with knowledge about IP rights, which she believes is crucial for sustaining and advancing Li Brocade traditions for future generations. "IP helps to protect the innovations and technical advancements made in the field, ensuring that traditional weaving techniques can be preserved and enhanced for future generations. Young Li weavers can actively contribute to the preservation and protection of Li Brocade, a cherished element of their traditional culture," she explains.

The art of making a traditional Li costume

Producing a traditional costume involves a meticulous process of spinning, dyeing, weaving, and embroidering, which can take up to eight months or more than a year, depending on the intricacy of the design. In the first instance, island cotton is spun into yarn and then dyed. “Finally, we employ a range of embroidery techniques, including one-sided and double-sided embroidery, to adorn the woven pieces,” Chaoying Zhang explains.

The patterns depicted in Li brocade reflects the weaver’s aesthetic sensibilities, lifestyle, cultural customs, and religious beliefs. Unique patterns, techniques, and color palettes serve as a means to express various facets of their lives, such as love, marriage, religious convictions, and aspirations.

The pattern symbolizes Hercules, who is considered the creator of heaven and earth within the Li culture.

(Photo: Courtesy of Chaoying Zhang)

The Oya Brothers pattern represents the legendary chiefs of the Li tribe. They were known for their bravery and leadership, guiding their fellow tribe members to triumph over challenges and eventually achieve harmony and peace. This artwork symbolizes the values of brotherhood, unity, and mutual support, all of which contribute to a brighter future.

The Dove (Pigeons) pattern holds significant symbolism as it is considered a bird of fidelity and longevity. The embroidered dove motif on both sides, created by Li women, represents the unity and integration of brotherly peoples, along with everlasting peace and tranquility.

The WIPO Magazine is intended to help broaden public understanding of intellectual property and of WIPO’s work, and is not an official document of WIPO. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WIPO concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This publication is not intended to reflect the views of the Member States or the WIPO Secretariat. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WIPO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

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