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.”
