Six Months into the Hainan FTP's Full Operation: Inbound Tourist Numbers Surge Significantly, Sanya's Story Spreads across the Globe

International routes expanding, inbound tourists surging, and Sanya's story reaching every corner of the globe

Six months since the launch of island-wide special customs operations of Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), Sanya has made significant strides in establishing itself as the core zone of an international tourism and consumption center. The city has been intensifying its international air connectivity, building a comprehensive global communication network, and upgrading its cultural and tourism offerings. The result has been a remarkable increase in the city's global appeal. Statistics show that from January to May 2026, the number of inbound tourists to Sanya surged by 51.5% year-on-year, while their spending increased by 71.5%, providing tangible evidence of the city's successful opening-up policy.

International Air Routes: Expanding Global Reach

"The seventh-freedom flight route from Sanya to Prague is steadily increasing its frequency, supported by optimized customs clearance procedures and rising demand from the European market," said Czech cultural and tourism professionals arriving at Sanya Airport on a regular international flight operating between Europe and Asia. The team plans to launch exclusive health and wellness travel products targeting the Central European market in the third quarter to attract more European families.

Leveraging the 86-country visa-free policy and open aviation rights, Sanya's international route map continues to expand, with stable connectivity to multiple countries and regions in Southeast Asia, the Russian-speaking market, Central Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe. Routes such as "Sanya–Moscow," "Sanya–Tashkent," "Sanya–Minsk," and "Sanya–Almaty" have seen increased frequencies. To better tap into overseas markets, Sanya has established 23 overseas tourism promotion liaison offices in more than ten countries and regions, including Germany, the Czech Republic, Thailand, South Korea, Kazakhstan, and Russia, serving as frontline windows in source markets.

Not long ago, the newly inaugurated South Korea liaison office carried out tourism product promotion and sales at the Seoul International Travel Fair, effectively driving the conversion of source market visitors. Sanya has also partnered with airlines such as SCAT Airlines and Hunnu Air, to continuously promote Sanya's tourism resources and major international events through in-flight magazines, social media, and other channels. In May this year, Sanya attended the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, simultaneously launching its overseas tourism promotion liaison office in South Korea and successfully securing the hosting rights for the 2027 PATA Annual Summit—the first major international cultural and tourism event to land in Hainan since the launch of island-wide special customs operations of Hainan FTP. During the ASEAN-focused promotional tour in the first half of the year, nearly 50 mainstream Thai media outlets provided simultaneous follow-up coverage, continuously amplifying Sanya's overseas exposure.

While "going global" to establish presence and expand markets, Sanya has solidly advanced "inviting in" for in-depth exchanges, regularly inviting travel agents from Europe, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan, China, and overseas travel bloggers to visit duty-free shopping districts, coastal greenways, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) wellness centers, engaging in face-to-face discussions on cross-border wellness and customized surfing and diving tour routes. These international air routes connecting mountains and oceans link together cultural tourism and leisure, wellness experiences, and people-to-people friendly exchanges, continuously narrowing the distance between Sanya and global markets.

International Visitors Flock In, Coastal Wellness Wins Favor among Global Travelers

On a recent afternoon at Dadonghai Beach, the sea breeze carried a mix of languages. Russian tourist Lucia Piraeva strolled along the city's boutique greenway. This was her third year visiting Sanya under the visa-free policy. Besides diving at Wuzhizhou Island and walking along the coast, TCM therapy has become a fixed part of her itinerary every time.

"Getting tuina massage and moxibustion in Sanya, combined with medicinal diet therapy, leaves my whole body feeling much more relaxed," Lucia said. She noted that many of her European and Central Asian friends now specifically plan cross-border wellness vacation itineraries. At the multilingual consultation rooms of the Sanya International Friendship TCM Sanatorium, traditional therapies such as acupuncture, cupping, and herbal bath treatments have won over visitors from multiple countries around the world.

Zhou Li, a local travel agency professional with years of experience in inbound tourism, has felt this shift profoundly. More and more people are now proactively planning long-haul itineraries, flying in specifically to experience the sunny coast and TCM wellness. She explained that her team has developed customized wellness and coastal leisure routes specifically for overseas markets, with repeat customer rates continuing to climb. Many visitors, after their experience, invite friends and family to come along as well.

Today, homestays, scenic spots, and hotels are generally equipped with multilingual service brochures, and many local practitioners are proactively learning Russian and Thai to serve foreign guests. Six months into full operation, the inbound tourism market has shown a steady improvement trend, with the Southeast Asian and Russian-speaking markets steadily expanding and notable growth in long-haul visitors from Europe and Central Asia. Overseas visitors have transitioned from "hearing about Sanya" to "traveling to Sanya."

Behind the continuously rising inbound visitor numbers lies strong endorsement from international authoritative rankings: Lonely Planet listed Sanya as the top recommendation among "The World's 25 Best Beaches"; Singapore's Channel NewsAsia named Sanya the only Chinese city among Asia's top beach resort destinations; the 2026 Forbes Travel Guide included 8 resorts and 4 specialty wellness spas in Sanya; and the city has topped the Hurun Report's list of preferred domestic travel destinations for high-net-worth individuals for 14 consecutive years. The tropical scenery blending mountains and sea, together with distinctive TCM wellness offerings, stands as the most vivid and warm testament to Sanya's opening-up.

Global Communication Reaches across the World, Telling Sanya's Story in Global Languages

On overseas social media platforms, the hashtag #GoChinaInSanya continues to attract attention from netizens worldwide. Sanya's official multilingual accounts have maintained stable engagement over the long term. Evaluations by third-party institutions show that Sanya's comprehensive international communication strength ranks among the top coastal cities in China. This notable overseas attention is the natural result of authentic, light-touch cross-cultural events.

Ahead of the Asian Beach Games, the Sanya Tourism Board's overseas social accounts launched the #PassTheBallToSanya global online passing challenge, inviting cultural and tourism agencies, National Olympic Committees, and sister cities to interact online by passing a virtual basketball. Official cultural and tourism accounts from countries including Bhutan and Bangladesh actively participated in the engagement, while athletes from various nations spontaneously filmed and shared their beach training and leisure activities on overseas social platforms. Media from 45 countries and regions provided follow-up coverage of the event-related content. This simple online interaction conveyed to all of Asia Sanya's open posture of embracing the world.

Relying on the Passport Friendly Program, ordinary inbound tourists have become the city's natural promoters. A Kazakh diving blogger, a Malaysian food influencer, and a Russian wellness traveler all spontaneously produced travel vlogs, authentically documenting the full process of visa-free convenience under the Free Trade Port, coastal scenery, and TCM therapy. The vast amount of user-generated content removes the sense of being promotional, precisely resonating with potential overseas travelers.

Building on the global consensus on sustainable development, Sanya—as the first city marketing cooperation partner of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council in mainland China—has proactively shared its "zero-waste city" construction and comprehensive ecological protection practices, participating in global green tourism discussions and continuously enhancing its international discourse power.

The comprehensive global communication system, covering 23 overseas promotion liaison offices, the overseas social accounts of local tourism-related enterprises, and official multilingual digital platforms, provides long-term support for a series of overseas communication activities. Overseas liaison offices in various regions, taking into account local market characteristics, coordinate in advance with overseas influencers and media to plan on-the-ground visits. Through concrete stories such as athlete interactions, spontaneous visitor sharing, and global ecological cooperation, they build cross-language communication bridges, consistently conveying to the world the city's inclusive, green, and open character.

Product Innovation and Iteration Empowers High-Quality Development of the Tourism Industry

Leveraging the policy advantages of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Sanya has continuously accelerated innovation and iteration in tourism products, constantly enhancing its appeal to inbound tourists and advancing the development of the core zone of an international tourism and consumption center.

Since the beginning of this year, Sanya has established a systematic tourism product system covering 11 major categories, while simultaneously launching a tourism product innovation competition to enrich cultural and tourism offerings through systematic planning and competitive exploration. For example, wellness vacation routes with supporting multilingual services have been developed for European and Central Asian visitors, while integrated coastal experiences combining surfing and diving have been created for younger Southeast Asian travelers, achieving precise and effective market targeting. In the first half of 2026, the "Love Sanya" consumption promotion brand drove hotel and tourism sales to exceed 1.6 billion yuan, indirectly stimulating 3.3 billion yuan in local consumption across the city. Inbound visitor flows have been effectively converted into real growth in the real economy.

Six months since the launch of island-wide special customs operations of Hainan FTP is merely a new starting point for development. In the next phase, Sanya will focus on peak travel seasons such as summer vacation, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day holidays, linking with a series of international events to continue inviting overseas travel agents and cultural tourism influencers for on-site inspections. It will continue to increase frequency on overseas routes, optimize the localized operations of overseas promotion liaison offices, and deepen its focus on eco-tourism and wellness tourism as distinctive sectors. Through continuously innovating and upgrading international cultural and tourism offerings, Sanya will keep expanding the space for global cultural and tourism cooperation.

As night falls, the lights of international flights at Sanya Phoenix Airport illuminate one after another. The laughter and cheerful voices of tourists from various countries echo endlessly along the beaches. Overseas social platforms continue to update with travelers sharing their Sanya wellness, marine, and ecological experiences. Backed by the unique and unparalleled open policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Sanya—using air routes as bridges, visitors as ambassadors, and communication and innovation as support—will continue to open its doors wide and invite global travelers to vacation in Sanya.