Hainan island hopes to become China's Phuket
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-10 16:58

No tsunamis, no bombs and no sharks. Just crystal clear waters, swaying palm trees and white sandy beaches -- the governor of China's tropical island of Hainan thinks his province has it all.

Yet last year, even though Hainan attracted more than 15 million visitors who spent at least one night, the province earned just 12.5 billion yuan ($1.55 billion) from tourism.

By comparison, Thailand's Phuket each year gets around 3 million visitors, but accounts for a third of the country's $8 billion in tourism receipts, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

"They get far fewer visitors than we do, but earn far more," Wei Liucheng, Hainan's ebullient governor, told reporters on the sidelines of China's annual meeting of parliament on Friday.

"Lots of foreigners go to Southeast Asia, but it's great to go on holiday here too," said Wei. "It's very safe. There have been no explosions, no tsunamis and there are no sharks."

The average tourist spent just a day-and-a-half in Hainan, compared to seven to 10 days for Phuket, he said, and on average they spent several times more per head.

Last year, less than half a million overseas tourists went to Hainan -- which touts itself as China's Hawaii -- though that was up some 40 percent on 2004, according to provincial statistics.

And the province did not want unrestrained development, the governor said, sitting in the Hainan room of the Soviet-era Great Hall of the People, surrounded by murals of cascading waves and ethnic minorities hunting deer with bows and arrows.

"Hainan is a very beautiful island, but we are not saying the more people who visit the better," said Wei. "If we were to get 40 to 50 million visitors a year, that would have a terrible effect on the environment.

"We won't restrict the numbers of visitors at the moment, but we are considering it. We're a small island with a great environment. Tourists generate so much rubbish," he added.

To that end, the province, which is also a centre of rubber, sugar and banana production, may ban plastic bags, Wei said.

But foreign tourists who have been to Hainan for a beach holiday say it still has a long way to go before being able to give Thailand a run for its money.

"It's very beautiful but there's not much to do compared to Thailand, like water skiing," said U.S. citizen Karen Fang.

Cultural differences perplex too, in a country where having a sun tan has traditionally been looked down on as a sign of hard work under a blazing sky in the fields.

"It's very relaxing, and there's not very many people on the beach, but you might get stared at if you're in your bikini," Fang said. "Groups of men -- and women -- would come up and stare at us."