Deprived of travel for three years because of the pandemic, the Chinese are back in droves to vacation spots. franceinfo was able to meet them on the island of Hainan, the leading destination in China for domestic tourism.
In China, the page of the Covid-19 is well and truly turned. Two and a half months after the lifting of health restrictions, domestic tourism is exploding. The Chinese are rediscovering a taste for holidays, especially on the tropical island of Hainan, off the coast of Vietnam in the South Sea, the leading destination for domestic tourism.
On one of the most famous beaches on the island, tourists settle on several kilometers of fine sand surrounded by nature. The site is crowded at the end of February. Under a blazing sun, hundreds of young surfers train in the water, while on the sand, people dance to the rhythm of Chinese techno. It’s hard to imagine that just a few weeks ago, due to sanitary restrictions, the beach was deserted.
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70,000 passengers per day
“I came on a motorbike. There were traffic jams everywhere on the road, even the motorbikes were blocked!says a tourist from Canton. It feels like people have been hit with a suffocating madness during those three years at home. And there, it’s like a release.”
Everyone in China remembers the summer of 2022, when tens of thousands of tourists had to be evacuated after a wave of COVID-19. Today all that is a thing of the past. “Sanya’s hotel industry has maintained an average booking rate of over 85% since Chinese New Year, confirms Kai Qiang, president of the hotel federation of the city of Sanya. Revenues for hoteliers and restaurateurs are higher than in 2019. There are benefits for everyone: the vegetable growers are happy, as are the fruit sellers, the fishermen…”
As soon as the “zero Covid” policy was lifted in December 2022, the Chinese resumed buying plane tickets to Hainan. Sanya airport currently sees through 70,000 travelers per day. Thus, the island of Hainan broke a historic record in January 2023: 21 billion yuan revenue, i.e. three billion euros.
The crowds are such that airlines have had to replace small planes with larger ones. An unexpected recovery after three difficult years, for Fang Fang, director of the Ctrip travel agency in Sanya. “Car rental and yacht travel bookings in Sanya increased by more than 200% year on yearshe notes. Although the Chinese New Year holiday is now over, tourism in Sanya is still very active. There are still many people on the streets, at tourist sites and in entertainment venues.”
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After three years of health restrictions, the Chinese spend almost without counting. “I’m buying lipstick for the day we don’t wear a mask at all, says a vacationer, in the middle of shopping in one of the gigantic Duty Free shopping centers, a specialty of Hainan Island.
It’s a bit of revenge, revenge for me after these three years!
a vacationerat franceinfo
The sales manager in one of these tax-free shopping centers even explains that she “recruited staff” to answer a “constantly increasing attendance”. The recovery in tourism impresses Godefroy Zwygart, a Frenchman who has worked in Hainan for twelve years. “We must not forget: the Chinese are resilient peoplehe slips. We lower our heads, we let the storm pass. After that, it kicks off.” And this consultant for one of Sanya’s marinas concludes: “It’s amazing, they adapt very very quickly”.