Seas of potential

They included island parks in Zhejiang, and culture-and-tourism projects between China and other countries.

Italy's Sicily and Sardinia; Indonesia's Java and Bali; China's Hainan; Sri Lanka; Singapore; the Philippines' Luzon; South Korea's Jeju; and Thailand's Koh Samui are ranked among the top 30 island destinations in terms of tourism competitiveness, according to a list of 171 islands compiled by the China Tourism Academy.

Sri Lanka received over 265,000 Chinese travelers last year, making China the country's No 2 inbound-travel source market, Sri Lanka's Tourism and Christian Affairs Minister Ranjith Aluwihare says.

The island nation received 2.3 million inbound visits, generating $43.8 billion, in 2018.

"The conference can help us get the latest state of play in island countries and understand new tourismrelated technology," Aluwihare says.

The nation experienced a terrorism attack earlier this year, which significantly affected tourism.

"Sri Lanka has returned to a normal state, and we are a safe country," he says.

It has offered visa-free entry to visitors from 48 countries, including China, since August. The policy will last until 2020.