HAINAN RELEASES WHITE PAPER ON TOURISM, BRAND AND GLOBAL STRATEGY

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- The Hainan Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, TV, and Sports has released the White Paper on Shaping Hainan's Brand Image on Tourism and Culture and International Communication Strategy (2024–2025).

Spanning more than 150,000 characters across five sections and 20 chapters, the document outlines targeted measures to support the long-term growth of Hainan’s inbound tourism amid the island’s upcoming independent customs operations.

The white paper provides an in-depth analysis of inbound tourism trends against the backdrop of global shifts and industrial upgrading, benchmarks Hainan against leading island tourism destinations, and proposes policy recommendations covering branding, media outreach and sector-specific development.

According to the statement, the 2024–2025 edition introduces four key updates—alignment with the 2025 Free Trade Port customs timeline; expanded research covering major tourism destinations; the addition of specialised tourism category analyses; and enhanced data collection methods, particularly for independent travel trends.

The latest edition also advances its "digital twin" methodology by incorporating first-person accounts from international visitors. Supported by field tracking, this approach offers a more immersive and comprehensive view of Hainan’s inbound tourism market, the research team noted.

The research covered multiple key source markets, including Central Asia, Northeast Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe—and involved field visits, semi-structured interviews with more than 50 stakeholders and over 250,000 characters of interview transcripts. Several hundred specialised questionnaires were also collected to strengthen data insights.

Industry experts say the white paper assesses the foundations and challenges of Hainan’s inbound tourism sector while leveraging the institutional strengths of the Free Trade Port to outline practical pathways for brand development and international communication.

It is expected to support Hainan in capitalising on opportunities brought by independent customs operations and enhancing its position in the global tourism market.

-- BERNAMA