Southern paradise looks for Western guests

The authorities on Hainan Island are working flat out to make the province a major destination for international cruises and visitors from overseas. Andrew Moody, Jiang Wanjuan and Wang Hao report from Haikou. Andrew Moody, Jiang Wanjuan and Wang Hao

Hainan Island has been a holiday destination for Chinese tourists for many years, but now China's only tropical island is looking to attract Westerners and other tourists from overseas.

In 2010, the central government set a target for the island province to become an international tourism destination by 2020, but five years on, there is still some way to go. Last year, just 650,000 or 1.4 percent of Hainan's 47.89 million tourists, came from outside China, with many hailing from South Korea and Russia, rather than the United States or Europe.