Sanya, in China’s Hainan province, turns to movie stars, influencers - and mermaids - to draw young tourists
- Sanya’s tourism push has seen stars such as Huang Bo have their underwater adventures live-streamed and travel bloggers make videos on surfing and beach fashion
- Other new initiatives targeting Gen Z travellers include underwater photography contests and carbon-free travel-plus-diving packages
As Guinness World Records go it’s niche, but in April, 110 young professional divers outfitted with tails staged the largest underwater mermaid dance show ever witnessed.
Organised by the Atlantis Sanya – an ocean-themed resort in Sanya, in China’s island Hainan province – and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (Padi), the stunt is part of a concerted effort by local government and tourism operators to encourage young domestic tourists to visit the holiday island in southern China at a time when Covid-19 has triggered border controls and prevented people in mainland China from travelling overseas.
Hainan province has suffered a large drop in visitors due to the pandemic. Government figures show that in 2020, 65 million people visited Hainan, a year-on-year fall of 22.3 per cent. And it’s young, tech-savvy Chinese travellers who are seen as the saviours of the island’s tourism industry.
Generation Z, or those born after 1995, “make up a whopping 27 per cent of all travellers [to Hainan], according to our data”, said Leo Zhang, CEO of the domestic government cooperation department of China’s largest online travel agency, Trip.com, at a July travel forum hosted in Sanya by his company. “For those who were born after 2000, their favourite destinations in Hainan are Yalong Bay Tropic Paradise [Forest Park] and The Lost Chambers Aquarium, in Sanya.”
For its part, Padi is wooing the young with a range of initiatives. “In December, we launched our first-ever two-hour programme for novice divers,” says Lou Yan, Padi’s China CEO. “With no experience in diving, participants can dive down to 12 metres at Wuzhizhou Island, in Sanya. Unlike our other diving programmes, which last much longer, this two-hour diving-plus-local travel package lends itself to impulsive purchase in the live-streaming sales we have adopted.”
Other Hainan programmes launched by Padi since the pandemic began include underwater photography contests and carbon-free travel-plus-diving packages aimed at electric car owners. Stars such as actor and director Huang Bo were recruited by Padi last year to promote marine and coral conservation, with their underwater adventures in Sanya live-streamed.
What happened to Hainan, China’s ‘Hawaii of the East’?
Zeng Bowei, secretary general of the China Leisure Association, told the Trip.com forum that travel operators should employ national chic, or guochao (traditional Chinese aesthetics that counter style references from the West), in viral campaigns to attract young tourists. He cited the example of Henan TV, which broadcast an underwater dance performed by an elegant, agile young woman clad in traditional clothing to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
“I recently visited Henan and was told that the [underwater dance] event was launched by the local government. Teams of directors had come up with various proposals to bid for the promotional project,” Zeng said.
“[For example, the tourism authorities of] Mount Laojun, in Henan province, trained all their staff in making short videos. Staff whose short videos rack up 4 million views in a month will a 4,000 yuan [US$618] reward. Sanya can learn from such measures and organise trendsetting events like the Cannes Film Festival.”
Sunny Yan, a travel blogger with 5 million Chinese fans on various social media platforms, has collaborated with hotels and tourism authorities in Hainan to promote the island. The 26-year-old says she has made videos about surfing and seaside fashion to attract her followers to Sanya.
“Before I came back to China last year, I studied in Europe and visited 41 European countries,” she says. “My fans love to read my thoughts on destinations and travel and fashion tips. Eighty per cent of [young] tourists go as solo travellers, so we should produce useful reference videos to help them dig out attractive destinations easily.”
Travel blogger Chen Hongchen, 28, was also recruited by Hainan travel operators to promote the island. He says he focuses on places that have been featured in movies.
“For example, the [2010 movie] If You Are the One II is set in Yalong Bay Tropic Paradise. I have also made videos about local food and shopping in Hainan duty-free shops.”
The Capella Hotel Group, which opened two hotels in Sanya in 2019, is trying to attract young visitors with programmes featuring cultural ambassadors who will hold talks on local history, says Jiang Jiayue, Capella’s sales director for south China.
“They will talk about how people in Tufu Bay [to the east of Sanya] helped merchants transport goods such as spices along the Silk Road,” Jiang says.
“Hainan was also one of the first areas in China to produce coffee and we have courses on how ancient Chinese people consumed coffee,” Jiang adds. “A trip to Xinlong Coffee [a Hainan-based brand] is also provided, to give visitors a taste of local history and culture.”
And once young travellers have had that taste, Hainan’s tourism authorities hope, they will be forever partial to the attractions China’s foremost holiday island has to offer.
