Sanya promotes itself at Times Square in New York City

Sanya promotes itself on a building in Times Square. [Photo/hinews.cn]

The city of Sanya in Hainan province displayed a special promotional video at Times Square in New York City on Jan 6. In addition to promoting itself as a tourism destination, the tropical city also sent its best New Year wishes to the world.

Battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the global tourism industry encountered a huge slowdown in 2020. However, in China, where the pandemic situation had started to stabilize and work and production had started to resume from May 2020, the recovery of the tourism industry has gradually picked up speed.

Sanya, as one of the most popular domestic travel destinations for Chinese tourists, has continued to promote the construction of a free trade port with offshore tax-free policies and support from the Sanya tourism promotion bureau. It has become a top venue for tourists since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, setting a benchmark for national and even global tourism destinations in the post-pandemic era of tourism recovery and growth.

According to statistics from Sanya Phoenix International Airport, the airport hosted 108,000 flights, transported 15.4 million passengers, and handled 178,000 tons of cargo and mail in 2020. From August to December last year, the passenger throughput of the airport achieved positive growth for five consecutive months. In addition, thanks to upgrades to the airport duty-free shopping facilities, the airport saw total duty-free retail sales of nearly 23.5 billion, up 113 percent year-on-year. 

Now, Sanya, China's seaside resort, is strengthening the upgrading of its regional tourism facilities. With its comfortable environment, upgraded support facilities and friendly tourism services, it is ready to host more tourists from home and abroad in the new year.