Hainan, an Island Apart
REGIONAL FEATURE
An island apart
Once the castaway island of the disgraced, Hainan now enjoys the reputation of a growing tourism haven
----By Anna Bartram
Host to the Miss World beauty contest from 2003 to 2005, the Hainan Coconut International Festival and one of the largest banana producers in China - it is hard to imagine Hainan as anything other than a sleepy tropical getaway. The resorts of Sanya offer unspoilt stretches of sand, expensive golf courses and strips of luxurious hotel resorts.
For centuries, Hainan was known to the Chinese as "the end of the world" - those who fell out of favour with the emperor were sent there to live in exile. Formally separated from nearby Guangdong province in 1988, it was declared a Special Economic Zone and made into its own province. It lies at the southernmost spot in China but by no means carries its once legendary stigma of being the "end of the world".
Hainan has transformed itself into a popular domestic tourist destination with its sights set firmly on becoming an international one over the next four years. Sanya, in the southwest of the island, is one of China's 11 designated major tourist and holiday resorts. Four tourism zones in all are currently being developed, and high-end multinational hotels, golf courses and vacation residences are sprouting up all over the island.
According to Dirk de Cuyper, general manager of Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, the changes have already begun. "During the two years I have spent on Hainan, significant developments have happened on the island," he says. "The city of Sanya has seen that most of the top international hotel brands have or will have their hotels here; more guests, especially international guests, select Sanya as their vacation destination; investors from both China and abroad have their development projects, not only hotels but also all-inclusive residences and recreation zones in Sanya and Hainan."
Hainan is on its way to bringing in a more international clientele. In 2005, the number of overseas tourists grew by 40 percent to 431,900. Domestic tourists for the same year registered a massive 14.7 million, but only grew by 7.4 percent. The Hilton Sanya reported a 40 percent market share from the international markets in 2006, a percentage that de Cuyper claims "is still increasing". However, he also thinks "Sanya still needs more positive international exposure and destination promotion."
Bring on the foreigners
Nicolas Solari, who opened the Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Sanya, says that when Hainan crept into the public consciousness back in 1999, 40 percent of his guests came from Hong Kong, 55 percent from mainland China and 5 percent from the rest of the world. By 2004, the numbers had changed - mainland clientele represented only 40 percent, Hong Kong guests accounted for 48 percent and foreigners rose to 12 percent. "So the effort of the destination, all in all, was successful: to capture more and more foreigners."
Beyond the high-end hotels and resorts, Hainan does not cater to the budget tourism market. Cheaper deals to nearby Thailand and the Philippines tend to make the financially conscious foreigner choose an alternative destination.
Aurora Airey, a British marketing executive in Shanghai who has holidayed in Hainan, said given the choice between returning to Hainan and travelling to Southeast Asia, she would choose the latter. "Hainan wasn't particularly cheap. Prices are high because hotels know Chinese tourists like to go there. If I had to choose again I would go to Southeast Asia because it's cheaper and there are more things to do."
The island has been a popular winter destination for Chinese tourists looking to escape the cold, but it is no longer their only choice. In December last year, travel agencies reported that fewer tourists overall went to Hainan, and instead, chose up-and-coming mainland destinations in Yunnan and Guangxi. Overall package prices to Hainan were reduced by about RMB300 and many airfares saw reductions of 30 to 40 percent.
Hainan's relative isolation from the mainland, which hampered its tourist sector and the overall development of its industries, has only begun to be remedied in the last few years. In 2004, a US$583 million railway line was built across the Qiongzhou Strait linking Guangzhou with Haikou. Changes to air travel regulations in 2003 made it easier for foreign airlines to set up a presence in Hainan and run international services, with the aim of establishing Hainan as a transport hub from which foreign visitors could jump off to other parts of China. This has already had an effect - in 2005, Haikou Meilan Airport registered significant increases in international passenger and cargo flows. Tourism sometimes comes at a cost. Hainan's tourism will continue to grow as the government is carrying out continuous efforts to develop facilities, Solari says, but he also expresses mild concern for the coming years. "The future and reputation also depends on how the tourism authorities will control the people in the trade - tour operators, taxi drivers, restaurants and hotels, to avoid any kinds of abuses. Like in other destinations - there is a temptation to overcharge foreign customers, which badly affects the reputation of Hainan."
MICE is nice
As well as tourism, Hainan is establishing itself as a China favourite for the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions market, known as MICE. Sanya's government invested heavily in the Miss World 2003 pageant and subsequently acted as the contest's host for the following two years. Haikou held the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress, which discussed the sustainable development of the seas in the East Asia region, in 2006; and Boao, a fishing village on the east of the island, has received increased international attention for its role in hosting the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), the first international cooperation organisation based in China.
The leisure and MICE industries are "key" to Sanya, according to de Cuyper, who said his hotel's marketing share from the MICE business is increasing.
Other emerging industries on the island include electronics - colour televisions, refrigerators and various electronic parts - and food and beverage. Yeshu, a popular brand of coconut milk on the mainland, has its headquarters in Hainan.
A natural treasure trove
Hainan is fortunate enough to be rich in several natural resources. Its inland and offshore deposits of oil and natural gas rank among the highest in China - gas reserves run as high as 99.6 billion cubic metres; titanium reserves account for 70 percent of the national total and the area around the island is the country's major sea-salt production base. Tropical cash crops are abundant on the island; Hainan is China's most important tropical fruits production and seeds-breeding base. It has the largest share of primary industry in its GDP out of all the provinces in China, with fishing representing a major part of the island's agriculture.
Foreign and Chinese firms alike have wasted no time in cashing in on the island's rich bounties. In 2006, British energy giant BP and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) invested US$100 million in a gas drilling project in the Yacheng 13-1 gas field in the South China Sea off Hainan, for piping natural gas to Hong Kong. Sinopec Group opened a refinery on the island in the same year that has an annual processing capacity of 8 million tonnes.
Big outside investors in Hainan include Taiwan, the US and Singapore, but Hong Kong comes out on top of the list, with companies such as COSCO and CITIC Pacific establishing projects there.
In a ploy to attract greater capital flows to Hainan's shores, provincial governor Wei Liucheng invited investors to develop the 270 uninhabited isles off Hainan Island into tourist centres. As of current writing, however, just three of the isles have been developed. Wei said that Hainan will further expand tourism in accordance with the 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010) by encouraging holiday-making and pleasure-seeking.
In its 11th Five-Year Plan, Hainan pledged to achieve annual economic growth of 9 percent. Particular attention was given to the natural gas and petrochemical, modernisation of agriculture and related infrastructure and the development of energy-saving and conservation measures.
Tourism is not the only field to enjoy future growth, but it is a significantly expanding industry. Hainan now has the chance to be known as a destination to travellers outside of China, due to improved transport links and a number of international high-profile events.
But improvements could still be made, in Solari's opinion. "The other challenge for a destination, apart from being competitive for prices, is to be continuously new and trendy, to create repeated events of international calibre, festivals and offer more diversity in the way of entertainment," he says.
For Hainan to truly succeed as an international tourist hub, it needs to expand the range of facilities and hotels on offer to ensure a wider choice of accommodation, shopping and leisure activities for visitors. Only then can what used to be one of the country's poorest and most backward provinces be transformed into the island paradise it strives to be.
An island apart
Once the castaway island of the disgraced, Hainan now enjoys the reputation of a growing tourism haven
----By Anna Bartram
Host to the Miss World beauty contest from 2003 to 2005, the Hainan Coconut International Festival and one of the largest banana producers in China - it is hard to imagine Hainan as anything other than a sleepy tropical getaway. The resorts of Sanya offer unspoilt stretches of sand, expensive golf courses and strips of luxurious hotel resorts.
For centuries, Hainan was known to the Chinese as "the end of the world" - those who fell out of favour with the emperor were sent there to live in exile. Formally separated from nearby Guangdong province in 1988, it was declared a Special Economic Zone and made into its own province. It lies at the southernmost spot in China but by no means carries its once legendary stigma of being the "end of the world".
Hainan has transformed itself into a popular domestic tourist destination with its sights set firmly on becoming an international one over the next four years. Sanya, in the southwest of the island, is one of China's 11 designated major tourist and holiday resorts. Four tourism zones in all are currently being developed, and high-end multinational hotels, golf courses and vacation residences are sprouting up all over the island.
According to Dirk de Cuyper, general manager of Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, the changes have already begun. "During the two years I have spent on Hainan, significant developments have happened on the island," he says. "The city of Sanya has seen that most of the top international hotel brands have or will have their hotels here; more guests, especially international guests, select Sanya as their vacation destination; investors from both China and abroad have their development projects, not only hotels but also all-inclusive residences and recreation zones in Sanya and Hainan."
Hainan is on its way to bringing in a more international clientele. In 2005, the number of overseas tourists grew by 40 percent to 431,900. Domestic tourists for the same year registered a massive 14.7 million, but only grew by 7.4 percent. The Hilton Sanya reported a 40 percent market share from the international markets in 2006, a percentage that de Cuyper claims "is still increasing". However, he also thinks "Sanya still needs more positive international exposure and destination promotion."
Bring on the foreigners
Nicolas Solari, who opened the Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Sanya, says that when Hainan crept into the public consciousness back in 1999, 40 percent of his guests came from Hong Kong, 55 percent from mainland China and 5 percent from the rest of the world. By 2004, the numbers had changed - mainland clientele represented only 40 percent, Hong Kong guests accounted for 48 percent and foreigners rose to 12 percent. "So the effort of the destination, all in all, was successful: to capture more and more foreigners."
Beyond the high-end hotels and resorts, Hainan does not cater to the budget tourism market. Cheaper deals to nearby Thailand and the Philippines tend to make the financially conscious foreigner choose an alternative destination.
Aurora Airey, a British marketing executive in Shanghai who has holidayed in Hainan, said given the choice between returning to Hainan and travelling to Southeast Asia, she would choose the latter. "Hainan wasn't particularly cheap. Prices are high because hotels know Chinese tourists like to go there. If I had to choose again I would go to Southeast Asia because it's cheaper and there are more things to do."
The island has been a popular winter destination for Chinese tourists looking to escape the cold, but it is no longer their only choice. In December last year, travel agencies reported that fewer tourists overall went to Hainan, and instead, chose up-and-coming mainland destinations in Yunnan and Guangxi. Overall package prices to Hainan were reduced by about RMB300 and many airfares saw reductions of 30 to 40 percent.
Hainan's relative isolation from the mainland, which hampered its tourist sector and the overall development of its industries, has only begun to be remedied in the last few years. In 2004, a US$583 million railway line was built across the Qiongzhou Strait linking Guangzhou with Haikou. Changes to air travel regulations in 2003 made it easier for foreign airlines to set up a presence in Hainan and run international services, with the aim of establishing Hainan as a transport hub from which foreign visitors could jump off to other parts of China. This has already had an effect - in 2005, Haikou Meilan Airport registered significant increases in international passenger and cargo flows. Tourism sometimes comes at a cost. Hainan's tourism will continue to grow as the government is carrying out continuous efforts to develop facilities, Solari says, but he also expresses mild concern for the coming years. "The future and reputation also depends on how the tourism authorities will control the people in the trade - tour operators, taxi drivers, restaurants and hotels, to avoid any kinds of abuses. Like in other destinations - there is a temptation to overcharge foreign customers, which badly affects the reputation of Hainan."
MICE is nice
As well as tourism, Hainan is establishing itself as a China favourite for the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions market, known as MICE. Sanya's government invested heavily in the Miss World 2003 pageant and subsequently acted as the contest's host for the following two years. Haikou held the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress, which discussed the sustainable development of the seas in the East Asia region, in 2006; and Boao, a fishing village on the east of the island, has received increased international attention for its role in hosting the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), the first international cooperation organisation based in China.
The leisure and MICE industries are "key" to Sanya, according to de Cuyper, who said his hotel's marketing share from the MICE business is increasing.
Other emerging industries on the island include electronics - colour televisions, refrigerators and various electronic parts - and food and beverage. Yeshu, a popular brand of coconut milk on the mainland, has its headquarters in Hainan.
A natural treasure trove
Hainan is fortunate enough to be rich in several natural resources. Its inland and offshore deposits of oil and natural gas rank among the highest in China - gas reserves run as high as 99.6 billion cubic metres; titanium reserves account for 70 percent of the national total and the area around the island is the country's major sea-salt production base. Tropical cash crops are abundant on the island; Hainan is China's most important tropical fruits production and seeds-breeding base. It has the largest share of primary industry in its GDP out of all the provinces in China, with fishing representing a major part of the island's agriculture.
Foreign and Chinese firms alike have wasted no time in cashing in on the island's rich bounties. In 2006, British energy giant BP and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) invested US$100 million in a gas drilling project in the Yacheng 13-1 gas field in the South China Sea off Hainan, for piping natural gas to Hong Kong. Sinopec Group opened a refinery on the island in the same year that has an annual processing capacity of 8 million tonnes.
Big outside investors in Hainan include Taiwan, the US and Singapore, but Hong Kong comes out on top of the list, with companies such as COSCO and CITIC Pacific establishing projects there.
In a ploy to attract greater capital flows to Hainan's shores, provincial governor Wei Liucheng invited investors to develop the 270 uninhabited isles off Hainan Island into tourist centres. As of current writing, however, just three of the isles have been developed. Wei said that Hainan will further expand tourism in accordance with the 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010) by encouraging holiday-making and pleasure-seeking.
In its 11th Five-Year Plan, Hainan pledged to achieve annual economic growth of 9 percent. Particular attention was given to the natural gas and petrochemical, modernisation of agriculture and related infrastructure and the development of energy-saving and conservation measures.
Tourism is not the only field to enjoy future growth, but it is a significantly expanding industry. Hainan now has the chance to be known as a destination to travellers outside of China, due to improved transport links and a number of international high-profile events.
But improvements could still be made, in Solari's opinion. "The other challenge for a destination, apart from being competitive for prices, is to be continuously new and trendy, to create repeated events of international calibre, festivals and offer more diversity in the way of entertainment," he says.
For Hainan to truly succeed as an international tourist hub, it needs to expand the range of facilities and hotels on offer to ensure a wider choice of accommodation, shopping and leisure activities for visitors. Only then can what used to be one of the country's poorest and most backward provinces be transformed into the island paradise it strives to be.
Labels: Media Release
posted by AP at
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