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E-mail Beijing Review, April 10, 2018
Rainforests, wetlands and rice fields have all been upgraded into resorts. The Sanya Rice Park, which opened in February 2018, is the latest example. The park was the test site for Yuan Longping, a renowned Chinese rice scientist, to cultivate new strains of high-yield hybrid rice. It has been transformed into the world's biggest dinosaur exhibition park with 323 models of various species of the animal scattered across the area. "We aim to provide a science education base for youngsters," said Dai, adding that tourists can experience rice planting and learn about dinosaurs in the park.
Eco-friendly tourism has made Hainan greener and put money in local wallets. By the end of 2017, 85.1 percent of Hainan's villages had been refurbished into resorts, receiving 9.51 million tourists and generating 2.86 billion yuan ($455.2 million) in tourism revenue. The per-capita disposable income of rural residents in Hainan rose to 12,902 yuan ($2,053) last year.
On December 31, 2009, the Chinese Government rolled out a program aiming to turn Hainan into an international tourism island. A series of preferential policies were released to open up the island further.
The year 2010 is therefore regarded as the beginning of the era of Hainan Tourism 3.0, represented by tourism plus high-end consumption and healthcare.
A duty free policy, which was introduced in April 2011, and an increasing number of duty-free shopping malls have generated accumulative sales of 31.5 billion yuan ($5.01 billion) by January 2018, becoming a major driver of Hainan's economic growth. The province also offers a visa-free service to foreign tourists from 59 countries, making it more easily accessible.
In 2017, China's first international medical tourism hub—Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone—was launched. The hub, 9 km west of the permanent venue of the Boao Forum for Asia, aims to offer tourists healthcare services including physical examination, rehabilitation and cosmetic surgery among others. Nine preferential policies have been introduced, including lower import tariffs on medical equipment and drugs as well as longer employment contracts for foreign doctors. Also, foreign investors are allowed to open hospitals there.
To help pull in more high-end healthcare institutions into the pilot zone, the Hainan Provincial Government has abolished 32 administrative approval procedures. From 2015 to June 2017, the zone has attracted 99 projects, with a total investment of 21 billion yuan ($3.34 billion).
To date, four medical service centers in the zone have been on trial operation and the number of such enterprises is expected to rise to 90 in the next decade, according to the local government.
"Many foreign tourists are fascinated with Chinese culture and traditional Chinese medicine services here," Liu Yueyong, Director of the Administration Department of Yiling Life Care Center, an early investor in the pilot zone, told Beijing Review.
With its diversified tourist products, Hainan had attracted 67.45 million tourists by the end of 2017, generating an income of 81.2 billion yuan ($12.92 billion). In 2017, up to 55.7 percent of Hainan's GDP and 79.5 percent of its economic growth came from the service sector. Hainan is now firmly on the map as a popular destination for tourists from around the world.
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