Over 150 guests from 30 yacht associations and enterprises in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and overseas countries gathered in Sanya on Dec 14 to discuss new growth opportunities for Sanya's yachting tourism industry.
The Hainan Hong Kong Macao Individual Yachting Forum was held to contribute more ideas to the development of the yachting economy and achieve mutually beneficial cooperation between Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macao.
Most of Hainan's bays and islands are excellent places for yachting and developing yacht tourism. The bays and islands are the main destinations for Hong Kong and Macao yacht tours, according to authorities from the Department of Transportation of Hainan Province at the forum.
Early in June, Hainan released its policy concerning the "free flow of yachts" between the island and the two special administrative regions, further bolstering the yachting industry's optimism about the emerging tourism consumer market.
According to statistics, from June to November this year, six new yacht clubs were set up in Hainan, an increase of 50 percent, while 95 yachts were registered, an increase of 33 percent year-on-year.
A guest delivers a speech at the Hainan Hong Kong Macao Individual Yachting Forum held on Dec 14 in Sanya. [Photo/people.com.cn]
Sanya, which is striving to build an international yacht tourism consumer destination, has been fully implementing the "free flow of yachts" policy between Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macao.
The city is exploring policymaking innovations in terms of Hong Kong and Macao yachts entry and exit management, supervision and inspection, as well as sailing planning, striving to form a convenient and clear policy system to open Sanya's yacht industry wider to the outside and foster new hot spots for tourism consumption, according to Chen Tiejun, vice mayor of Sanya.
Its yacht and cruise industries will boost the development of the Sanya headquarters economy, as well as the construction of a central business district and an international tourism consumption center, said He Dazhe, chief planner of the Sanya natural resources and planning bureau.
He added that Sanya is deploying its cruise tourism industry chain throughout the city, developing cruise service industries at Haitang Bay, Yalong Bay, and other regions, while constructing duty-free bases, as well as cruise repair and refurbishment industries at Hongtang Bay and Yalong Bay.
Boasting a unique natural environment suitable for various marine sports like yachting and sailing, Sanya welcomed 16,871 visitors that went out to the sea during the week-long National Day holiday this year, up 71.8 percent year-on-year, displaying a new hot spot for tourism consumption in the city.
At the forum, yacht tourism cooperation agreements between Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macao were also signed. In addition, the first group of Sanya's island tourism products offering "free flow of yachts" services was released.
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