The Sanya Tourism Board is pulling out all the stops with its destination marketing efforts with the aim of attracting Singapore residents.
The board held a tourism promotion seminar themed Where Fun Never Ends for the travel trade at the Shangri-La Singapore, with representatives from more than 10 tourism enterprises, including hotels with a presence in Sanya, transport, high-end yachts, airlines and wedding tourism companies, and over 30 trade partners from Singapore.
Speaking at the seminar, Albert Yip, director-general of Sanya Tourism Board, said: “Singapore has consistently been one of the significant sources of inbound tourism for Sanya. As a vital aviation hub, it is a key inbound market for Sanya.”
He added that there has been a notable increase in visitors since visa-free measures for 59 countries were implemented in the Hainan Province.
According to the Sanya Tourism Board, there has been a gradual increase in the number of visitors from Singapore to Sanya in 2023, particularly after the launch of the Phnom Penh-Sanya-Singapore air route, with a month-on-month increase of over 1,200 per cent in the number of overnight tourists.
The mutual visa exemption between China and Singapore has also greatly facilitated inbound travel to Sanya. In January and February this year, overnight arrivals of Singaporean tourists in Sanya increased by 661 per cent compared to the same period last year.
In addition, the board is currently working closely with airlines to increase the number of flights not just in Singapore but also around the region.
At present, there are flights to Sanya from Hanoi, Jakarta and Bangkok.
Through Singapore, Sanya Tourism Board is also targeting to reach more overseas visitors and is expanding its portfolio of tourism products to do so.
The city currently has about 130,000 hotel rooms from more than 41 international hotel brands including Marriott International, Crowne Plaza, Edition and Atlantis. New developments include the Hyatt Regency Sanya Tianli Bay, Hualuxe Hotels and Resorts and Sanya Yalong Bay Resort.
Another initiative is the Hainan Safe Pay app, which allows tourists to make payments easily in Hainan via their smartphone’s NFC capabilities.
Moreover, Sanya has a great range of cultural activities and natural scenery – Yip highlighted music festivals, the Li and Miao cultures, and Luhuitou and Tianya Haijiao as must-see scenic spots.
“Sanya is a relaxed place; and is very safe to walk around at night – it’s great for families and for a relaxing holiday,” said Yip.
The city is also focusing on sustainability, with educational programmes and activities such as coral planting available for visitors. Yip shared that the board is “dedicated to building a platform for friendly cooperation with foreign partners and deepening international cultural and tourism exchanges”.
Aside from Singapore, Sanya Tourism Board has plans to visit the Middle East, Europe, Japan and South Korea as part of its inbound tourism efforts.
