140 thousands people visit Sanya duty-free shop in 8 days

Sanya municipal government already organized a special meeting with the directors and leaders of the municipal tourism bureau, commerce bureau, public security bureau, the Sanya duty-free shop, and the sanitation and horticulture sections to coordinate the best preparation for welcoming huge number of tourists and customers during the coming May Day vacation.

The managers of the duty free shopping center will borrow the experience of the Shanghai World Expo to use stainless steel rails to guide the line of the people into a zigzag one. Five temporary shelters for the people waiting outside are set up and the Luhuitou Square is temporarily confiscated to be a huge parking lot. More policemen will be on patrol during the May Day vacation near this area.

Last week, many tourists lined up in the shopping center with excitement. On the opening day, a woman from Hangzhou wanted to pay the bill for the Dior perfume that she made up her mind to buy several days ago. She could enjoy around 35 percent tax rebate here. Many tourists selected the commodity in advance and they went directly to the cashier to pay by credit cards. And the luckiest tourist is Miss Yang, who became the customer completing the first payment in the Sanya Duty-free shop with her purchase of a bottle of 675 RMB Chanel perfume. On the first day, within merely 20 minutes, 6 Gucci handbags were sold from the Gucci franchised store. Within 4 hours, more than 7000 people entered the shop, and 2480 bills were paid. Many cosmetic products quickly sold out. The shelf for Chanel and Lancôme was soon empty, and there were very few items left in display in the Estee Lauder counters. More than 80 Tissot watches were sold within last week.

The off season flight ticket from Guangzhou to Sanya is only about 400-500 RMB , and this amount can be easily surpassed by the saving from the duty-free shop if one buys products totaling more than 2000 RMB. Some professionals believed that the implementation of this new off-shore tax rebate policy will stimulate more Cantonese tourists to go to Hainan Island to travel.

“Hainan’s The Islands tax-free policy has provided a model for the stimulation of domestic consumption.” said Mr. Zhao Zhong Xiu, a professor and dean from the University of International Business and Economics. The government launched the tax rebate program and will establish a few duty-free shopping centers or malls as part of its efforts to build the island into an international tourist and shopping destination. Hainan Island is the fourth offshore duty-free island in the world after Okinawa Island in Japan, and Jeju Island in South Korea, and Pescadores Island of Taiwan Province. Hainan’s cities and countryside have great potential for both business and tourism travelers and the local people won’t miss the chance to present them with a great shopping experience.