South China's Hainan receives over 12.32 million tourist visits during Spring Festival

HAIKOU, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Hainan, a tropical island province in south China, registered more than 12.32 million tourist visits during the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, a 28.9-percent increase compared with the previous year, official data showed.

Tourist spending reached 18.366 billion yuan (about 2.65 billion U.S. dollars), up 30.7 percent, highlighting robust consumption growth amid the island's first Spring Festival since the start of island-wide special customs operations.

Duty-free shopping sales totaled 2.72 billion yuan, rising 30.8 percent, with 325,000 shoppers buying 1.997 million items.

Leveraging visa-free policies for 86 countries and streamlined entry procedures, Hainan handled over 86,000 border crossings, a 43.3-percent increase. Main source markets included Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan and Singapore.

An official from the provincial department of tourism, culture and sports said Hainan will continue to make full use of the policy advantages of its free trade port status and its local cultural and tourism resources, constantly optimize product offerings, enhance service quality, and improve its regulatory system. ■