Saturday, June 2, 2018
Greater visa-free access for tourists from 59 nations has boosted the number of tourists to the southern-most island province of Hainan once the new rule came into effect on May 1.
During May this province has welcomed as many as 24,000 visa-free tourists from the 59 countries marking a rise of nearly 8 percent year-on-year according to the provincial bureau of public security’s statement on Friday.
Out of them, about 79 percent entered China via Sanya that is the southernmost city on the island and the rest through provincial capital Haikou.
As per the brand new policy, the group and individual tourists from these countries including France, Germany, Britain, Russia and the United States would be able to visit Hainan visa-free and also stay there for up to 30 days on condition that they book their tour via travel agencies.
Hainan has provided a 15-day visa-free stay for group tourists from 21 countries since 2000 and added in 2010 five more countries to the list and extended the stay to 21 days for group tourists from Russia, the Republic of Korea and Germany.
The recently simplified visa-free access to Hainan is part of efforts of China to turn the province into a ‘free trade port with Chinese characteristics’ as stated in the guidelines on supporting Hainan to deepen reform and opening-up.
This island has developed into a favorable tropical resort for overseas tourists in recent years and the number of overseas travellers have exceeded 1.1 million in 2017, up by 50 percent year-on-year.
More direct flights from the island are planned to link countries with visa-free access. Hainan already has 57 international flights to countries including Germany, Malaysia and Thailand, with plans for at least 16 new overseas routes this year. It aims to have at least 100 overseas routes by 2020.
Tags: hainan, republic of korea, sanya
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