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SANYA (REUTERS) – Millions of domestic tourists are pouring into the island province of Hainan, in the extreme south of China, presenting a surreal contrast with scenes of gloomy hospitals, closed restaurants and suffocating home quarantine elsewhere in a world devastated by the virus.
Known at home as the “Hawaii of China,” the island, the size of Taiwan, has been coronavirus-free for six months, drawing eager shoppers to duty-free shopping malls, couples seeking a subtropical backdrop. for wedding photography and surfers just looking to “breathe freely”.
October arrivals of 9.6 million, according to official data, exceeded the previous year’s figure, before the pandemic, by 3.1 percent, although foreign visitors plummeted 87 percent. That was a long way from February, when arrivals had dropped nearly 90 percent.
The rapid rise in tourism shows that China’s consumer sector may be emerging from its virus-induced slumber, as the closure of many international borders pushes travelers to destinations like Hainan, traditionally more expensive than most of Southeast Asia. .
Tourism spending has improved since a new tax-free spending limit of 100,000 yuan (20,400 Singapore dollars) for travelers came into effect in July, up from 30,000 yuan previously.
Hainan has raised 12 billion yuan in such sales in the next four months, to represent 214.1 percent for the year, or nearly on par with 2019 sales of 13.61 billion.
Tourists rushing through the Haitang Bay duty-free shopping center in the island city of Sanya were amazed at the queues in front of luxury brand boutiques from Chanel to Gucci, with some likening the scene to a garage sale.
“This is crazy, we didn’t expect so many people,” said a visitor from the southwestern city of Chengdu, who gave her name only as Ms. Xie.
But she was willing to queue for more than 30 minutes at the 1.1 million-square-meter (12 million-square-foot) mall just to get into a Gucci store.
“Seriously, is Gucci that cheap? With so many people in the queue, I would have thought it’s free,” said the 32-year-old.
A 53-year-old woman surnamed Liu who used to visit Thailand or Malaysia at this time of year said Sanya had been a good substitute. She paid more than 14,000 yuan for a Gucci bag.
“What theft!” said the native of Chongqing, another city in the southwest.
“We already buy cosmetics in Haikou and we are here for the bags,” he added, referring to the island’s capital.
As the “stay at home” economy grew in China due to the global pandemic, Morgan Stanley estimates that “relocated consumption” could reach as much as $ 165 billion (Singapore $ 220 billion) this year.
Normal
Although the 46 million visitors Hainan received from January to October were well below the 2019 figure of 83 million domestic and foreign tourists, Chinese travelers are ready to extend the tourism boom into winter.
Reflecting demand, the average daily booking rate in Sanya soared 43% in November from a year earlier to $ 151, and jumped 51% to $ 190 in December, says analytics firm AirDNA, which tracks reservations on Airbnb and Vrbo.
While the number of properties with at least one night booked increased 7% in November, the December figure had already reached 85% of the previous year’s level.
Hainan is also the travel destination for the Lunar New Year looming in February, says analysis firm ForwardKeys.
On a stretch of beach lined with five-star hotels along Yalong Bay, dozens of newlyweds prepared for elaborate wedding photo shoots.
The pandemic thwarted the plans of 30-year-old Xia Weini and her 28-year-old husband Wang Yu, from the western tip of Xinjiang, to visit the Thai resort island of Phuket to pose for photos.
“Xinjiang is probably the least landlocked place in China, so we’ve always wanted to get married near the sea,” Ms. Xia said.
Instead, they ended up spending more than 10,000 yuan on Sanya for photos.
Shine aside, Hainan offers a sense of normalcy that is a powerful appeal.
Business is turning out so good in Houhai village, a surf spot about a 40-minute drive from downtown Sanya, that many are turning their homes into surf clubs, said Che Linxin, brand manager for Jile Surf Inn.
As surfing became popular with young people trapped at home during the pandemic, the six-year-old club has attracted surfers, musicians and painters to its patrons, who tripled from last year.
“There is no low season in Sanya this year. Every day is high season since we reopened in March,” Che added.
Yanzi, a 25-year-old tour guide from Beijing, is a regular.
“I had severe headaches when I was in Beijing. Maybe it’s the air or the fact that my company doesn’t even pay me my base salary,” he said.
“But here, I can just walk around in public in my bikini, bathe in the sun and breathe freely.”
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