Hainan sees strong duty-free shopping sales during holiday

Customers purchase bags at a duty-free shop in Haikou, Hainan province, on Oct 1, 2021. [Photo/IC]

Duty-free shopping sales in southern China's Hainan province posted skyrocketing growth during the National Day holiday, with Oct 1 to 6 sales seeing a 75 percent increase over 2020, and a 359 percent rise compared with the same period in 2019, Hainan Daily reported on Thursday.

About 216,500 consumers purchased around 1.38 million items of duty-free goods in the first six days of the seven-day holiday, up 51 percent and 77 percent respectively from 2020, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Commerce of Hainan province on Thursday. The data rose 142 percent and 249 percent respectively, from the same period in 2019, the department said.

The nine duty-free shops within the island, including the ones in Haikou Meilan International Airport and the Sanya Phoenix International Airport, boosted holiday sales by unveiling new brands and new products, offering consumer coupons, as well as launching multiple promotional activities, both online and offline.

The shopping spree also pushed up the consumption of dutiable goods and catering services during the holiday, the report said, adding that multiple pandemic prevention and control methods have guaranteed safe shopping experiences for customers.