Beautiful Hainan chases outside excellence to go global

Zhou Ping, deputy director of the commission, said that Toruk - The First Flight would boost Hainan's tourist attractions, which in turn will up their game even more to offer top services to attract investment from premium tourism companies.

In 2018 Hainan plans to foster the construction of performance sites in each of its cities and counties. The three major cities of Haikou, Sanya and Danzhou will develop tourism performance industry clusters, said Ding Hui, director of the province's cultural and sports department.

Heavy investment in tourism complex

Hainan, welcomed as a something of a holiday paradise in China, will invest 13.5 billion yuan to build a 900 km-long tourist road that circles the island.

It will connect the 12 major coastal cities and counties of the island including Haikou, Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, Lingshui, Sanya, Ledong, Changjiang, Danzhou, Lingao and Chengmai, in the near future.

About 50 salons will be built along the road, according to a plan released by Hainan Tourism Development Commission, its director Sun Ying said. "We plan to invite international designers to make the designs and build each salon into a fantastic tourist spot."

She added that Hainan will invest a total of 839.3 billion yuan during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020).

Priorities will be to develop large theme park projects, rainforest theme parks and wetland national parks, new-feature tourism products, cruise tours, island tourist ring roads and greater international tourism marketing in the next five years.

Hainan has extraordinary natural resources to entice visitors, with 25 large-scale scenic spots. However, to date, it has remained largely a sightseeing tourism island, due to a lack of fully developed tourism complexes.

Once the Atlantis Sanya project and Lingshui marine theme park and other projects around the island province are completed, they will greatly enrich the variety of tourism products and enhance the quality of tourism in Hainan, Sun said.

Expanding overseas links, both air and sea

By late last year, 56 air routes had been opened - connecting Hainan with Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and international destinations including Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Germany.

These have made it much easier for international tourists to reach the tropical island.

The international flight routes are expected to increase to 100 by the year 2020, according to the Liu Cigui, Party chief of Hainan.

Meanwhile, sea routes to the province have also expanded, with a greater range that covers countries in southeast Asia.

In December, Haikou, the capital city of Hainan, and Sanya, launched cruise routes to link with the Philippines and Vietnam.

Hainan plans to further work with Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.