Young tourists dominate Sanya's tourism scene

In the past, Sanya, with its climate and pleasant scenery, attracted many middle-aged and elderly tourists. Now, younger tourists have become the main force driving Sanya's tourism consumption.

Whether camping, skydiving, tail wave surfing, duty-free shopping, or staying in high-end hotels, young tourists can always find a fun way to spend their holidays in Sanya.

Sanya's big data tourism platform shows that among the inbound passengers in Sanya Phoenix International Airport from 2021 to 2022, tourists aged between 18 and 35 accounted for the highest proportion among all tourist age groups. In 2021 alone, this group accounted for 42.3 percent of Sanya's tourist total, an increase of nearly 7 percentage points compared to 2019.

In May this year, the number of tourists between the ages of 18 and 25 that landed in the Sanya airport increased by 21.6 percent month on month. During the May Day holiday, young customers further highlighted their consumption power at Sanya's offshore duty-free locations, making up 53.2 percent of the city's offshore duty-free customers.

In 2020, Sanya tourism board paid attention to the trend of younger consumers, and carried out focused marketing and promotions that catered to the consumption preferences of young travelers.

In combination with their hobbies, the board launched a special promotion theme entitled "Stay young in Sanya", releasing five animal mascots to show five travel preferences. The octopus, seal, squirrel, shark, and koala correspond to five tourism preferences, namely shopping, travel photography, humanistic explorations, outdoor sports, and hotel vacations, respectively.

Young tourists like to taste local specialties, experience various outdoor sports, and participate in music festivals. This year, a number of interactive cultural and tourism activities, such as music festivals, comedy performances, and exhibitions, have been organized to create a surge in Sanya's tourism popularity.