In July 20th, a press conference was held at the Sanya Resident and Visitor Information Center to announce that the Sanya Island Family Carnival Month, a family tour promotional event, will kick off on July 27th, 2017.

Zheng Conghui, Deputy Director of the Sanya Tourism Development Commission, attended the conference. He said that Sanya’s tourism industry has flourished in recent years, and the city’s three main tourism products — MICE tourism, wedding and honeymoon tourism, and family tourism — are on the rise.

In 2016, the city received over 16,156 million overnight tourists, a year-on-year increase of 10.42 percent. Family tourist arrivals accounted for 50 percent of total tourist arrivals. Statistics from the Sanya Phoenix International Airport also showed that 30 percent of passengers departing and arriving were children. The figure might be even higher for the tourism peak season.

Sanya is the first tourist city in China to embrace a “child-friendly city” tourism promotional campaign. In recent years, Sanya has worked to develop into a popular destination for family travel by upgrading its public entertainment facilities for children, and by accelerating the construction of a new batch of model communities in the region where families with children can spend quality time together.

Sanya is now in the midst of the summer holiday season. Hotels and scenic spots in the city have developed a range of tourism offerings that aim to make families’ holiday experiences more memorable.

The month-long family tourism promotional campaign includes five central initiatives. Among those initiatives was a press conference for the 2017 Sanya Family Tour Product Launch, which was held in Beijing earlier this month. The event was also part of the city’s “Invite In and Go Out” marketing strategy, which targets key tourism markets. The event aimed to help travel operators, online travel agents, and various educational institutions across the country gain a better understanding of Sanya’s branded family tourism products.

The other four initiatives that seek to promote family tourism in Sanya are as follows: the 2017 Sanya Child-Friendly Tourism Development Forum, the Sanya Family Travel Products Sourcing Fair, the Sanya Family Open Day, and the Sanya Family Travel Guide.

2017 Sanya Child-Friendly Tourism Development Forum

The 2017 Sanya Child-Friendly Tourism Development Forum will be held on July 27th and 28th. The two-day forum will provide a solid platform for industry players and experts nationwide to strengthen exchange and cooperation, with the goal of boosting Sanya’s family tourism market.

Sanya Family Travel Products Sourcing Fair

The Sanya Family Travel Products Sourcing Fair will be held on July 27th, 2017. Suppliers from local family-oriented travel operators such as scenic spots, hotels and clubs, as well as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) from home and abroad will attend the fair to seek new business opportunities.

Sanya Family Open Day

Sanya Family Open Day will be held from July 27th to Agust 31st, 2017. A series of events will be held at the city’s top hotels and scenic spots during the period.

Sanya Family Travel Guide

Preparation work for the Sanya Family Travel Guide is already underway. The guide book is expected to be published this December. The guide book will feature a number of selected family vacation products in the city, with the goal of helping families with children traveling in Sanya have a better tourism experience.