Sanya, a key part of the Hainan Free Trade Port, was visited by tourists 34 million times in 2024, including 727,000 international overnight travelers—a 145 percent year-on-year surge. Consumption reached $560 million, highlighting the city's shift toward deep-experience tourism.
Young visitors aged 18 to 35 accounted for 31.8 percent of arrivals in the first quarter of 2025, up 2.8 percent year-on-year, signaling a move from "pass-through" to "deep-tour" models.
Tourist Zhang Xiaoying marveled at the revamping of the Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex, where shopping corridors blend with dining areas to become internet-famous photo spots. The city now offers jet surfing in Dadonghai Scenic Area, immersive rural tours in Shuijiao village's rice fields, and VR deep-sea experiences at Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City.
Major projects are reshaping the city's landscape. The 10-billion-yuan ($1.4 billion) Sanya MixC became a global retail and duty-free hub, the Haitang Bay cultural block fuses Sichuan culture with tropical charm, and the Phase-III duty-free complex has partnered with Taikoo Li for "luxury retail + art spaces". The Hainan Super Mediterranean Project, China's first AI-driven tourism resort, aims to lead in smart travel, alongside health projects like Pacific Care Home and Peking University Hospital of Stomatology in Sanya.
A viral moment this May Day—when a worker gifted a coconut to a tourist—epitomizes Sanya's service push. It launched China's first reliable travel system and advanced compensation mechanisms, luggage storage, and open government canteens. "We've rolled out 128 smart tourism measures,"said Huang Xing, director of the Sanya municipal bureau of tourism, noting cross-city marketing to turn visits into shared experiences.
Sanya is currently advancing the "Twin Centers" project. Through the coordinated development of project-driven initiatives, scene innovations, and service upgrades, it continues to strengthen the leading role of the core area of the International Tourism Consumption Center.
