White Paper on Shaping Hainan's Brand Image on Tourism and Culture and International Communication Strategy (2024–2025) released

Core Insights - Hainan, China's southern island province, has released a comprehensive white paper aimed at enhancing its brand image in tourism and culture, along with an international communication strategy for 2024-2025 [1][8] Group 1: White Paper Overview - The white paper spans over 150,000 characters and is divided into five sections and 20 chapters, providing an in-depth analysis of Hainan's inbound tourism development amid global dynamics and industrial upgrades [2] - It benchmarks Hainan against leading island tourism destinations worldwide and offers innovative policy suggestions across various sectors, including macro-level policymaking and media outreach [2] Group 2: Innovations in the White Paper - The 2024-2025 edition introduces four major innovations: alignment with the 2025 Free Trade Port timeline, broader research scope including all major tourism destinations, specialized analyses of tourism categories, and improved data collection methods for independent travel trends [3] - The "digital twin" research methodology has been advanced to include first-person accounts from international visitors, providing a more immersive understanding of the inbound tourism market [4][6] Group 3: Research Methodology - The research covered multiple source markets, including Central Asia, Northeast Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe, involving field visits and in-depth interviews with over 50 stakeholders, resulting in more than 250,000 characters of transcripts [7] - Several hundred specialized questionnaires were collected from key international source markets, enhancing the robustness of the data [7] Group 4: Industry Implications - Experts believe the white paper systematically examines the foundations and challenges of Hainan's inbound tourism sector while leveraging the Free Trade Port's advantages to propose pathways for brand development and international communication [8] - This guidance is crucial for Hainan to capitalize on opportunities from its independent customs operation and enhance its competitiveness in the global tourism market [8] Group 5: Visitor Statistics - As of October 15, Hainan recorded over 2 million inbound and outbound travelers in 2025, marking a 22.4% year-on-year increase, with 430,000 foreign nationals entering under the visa-free policy [9] - Visa-free entry has become the primary travel mode for international visitors, with citizens from 86 countries now eligible for visa exemption, alongside the expansion of international flight services with over 70 routes launched [9]