Hainan receives over 76 million tourists in 2018

More than 76 million domestic and overseas tourists visited southern China's island province of Hainan in 2018, up 11.8 percent year-on-year, local authorities said Wednesday.

Hainan's tourism revenue went up 14.5 percent over the previous year to more than 95 billion yuan ($14 billion) last year, said Sun Ying, director of the provincial department of culture, radio, television and sports.

In 2018, the island registered more than 140 outbound and inbound trips of cruises and yachts, receiving about 68,000 outbound and inbound tourists.

The cruises to the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea made 106 trips, up 51.4 percent, and received 33,300 domestic tourists, up 90.9 percent.

The two duty-free shops, one in the provincial capital of Haikou and the other in the resort city of Sanya, received 2.88 million customers and sold over 10 billion yuan of goods, according to official data.

The province has just opened two more duty-free shops, bringing the total number of offshore duty-free shops on the popular resort island to four.

China plans to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035.