A Small Surfboard Leveraging the Billion dollar Industry of "Sports+Tourism" in Hainan Practice International | Tourism | Sports
Building an international tourism consumption center is one of the important contents of the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port. The overall plan for the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port is clear: to adhere to ecological priority and green development, focus on the construction of international tourism consumption centers, promote deep integration of tourism and cultural sports, and cultivate new forms and models of tourism. Recently, the "High Quality Development Research Tour Theme Interview Activity" came to Hainan, and the interview team conducted on-site research in many places in Hainan.
How does Hainan promote the deep integration of tourism and cultural sports in creating a national sports tourism demonstration zone, and achieve high-quality development of the tourism industry? Let's take a look at the new atmosphere of sports and tourism development in Hainan.
A small surfboard leverages a billion dollar industry
In the past, Wanning Sun and Moon Bay was just a deserted bay, but now it has become a tourist destination for surfing enthusiasts, and related industries are also gathering and developing. Besides the unique surfing conditions in Sun Moon Bay, how did the local area use a small surfboard to create a billion dollar industry scale of sports and tourism from scratch?
Li Jing is a surfing enthusiast from Xinjiang. Not long ago, the "Sun Moon Bay World Surfing Day" series of activities planned by her and some surfing clubs in Sun Moon Bay attracted nearly 10000 domestic and foreign surfing enthusiasts to participate, and the related topics had more than 100 million views on new media.
But when she first came here 10 years ago, it was a different scene.
Surfing enthusiast Li Jing: I came here on May Day, 2013, but when I came here, there might be 10 people on the entire street. Seeing this is just a wild beach, it's very desolate but also beautiful. I wonder why no one came to such a beautiful place?
In fact, ten years ago, Wanning City organized targeted applications for a number of international surfing events. However, these events not only expanded the popularity of Sun Moon Bay in the surfing circle, but also had little effect on attracting tourist traffic and promoting tourism development.
How to get surfing enthusiasts to settle down? Wanning City has promoted the popularization of surfing in the local area through a government+enterprise model, giving birth to the first surfing club in Sun Moon Bay.
Zeng Shan, the operator of Wanning Sun Moon Bay Surfing Club, said: "We wanted to form a team of children at that time, starting with dolls.". I have reported to the Wanning Municipal Government and they are also very supportive, especially efficient. At that time, I remember giving it over 300000 yuan, and we also remember that it was equipped with a motorboat or something.
In 2016, surfing was selected as an Olympic sport, and 9 surfing youths trained by Zengshan Club were selected for the newly formed national team. Sun Moon Bay also became a training base for the national team and some provincial and municipal teams. The fame of surfing in Sun Moon Bay skyrocketed, attracting more and more domestic and foreign surfing enthusiasts and tourists.
With the influx of tourists and players, Wanning City has also continuously improved the supporting facilities in the bay area, and a number of surfing clubs, restaurants, and homestays have been established in the bay area. Many people choose to live here because they enjoy surfing.
Peter, a restaurant operator at Sun Moon Bay: Compared to other vacation destinations in the world, I think people prefer surfing here. It's a great opportunity for me to open a restaurant here, with both an international and local style.
Su Xiaoming, Deputy Director of the Tourism, Culture and Sports Bureau of Wanning City, Hainan Province: Sports+tourism aims to create a billion dollar industrial cluster. Not only surfing, but also sea sports, water sports, and low altitude flying, we all want to gradually build it up.
In the first quarter of this year, Wanning City received 1.22 million tourists, with a tourism revenue of over 2 billion yuan. The total tourism revenue for the year is moving towards the goal of 10 billion yuan.
Currently, Hainan is creating a national sports tourism demonstration zone. In addition to surfing in Wanning, a layout of sports events such as Haikou Football, Sanya Diving, Baisha Boxing, and Wuzhishan Taekwondo has been formed in the central and eastern regions of Hainan Island. Sports elements are triggering a qualitative upgrade of the tourism industry structure in Hainan, further stimulating the potential for tourism consumption and continuously injecting new vitality into the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port and International Tourism Consumption Center.
Expanding and strengthening rural tourism to support comprehensive rural revitalization
Hainan is building a distinctive tourism industry cluster through the deep integration of sports and tourism. When it comes to tourism in Hainan, many people think of coconut breeze, sea charm, and sunny beaches. For Hainan, how to integrate the vast rural areas into it, solve the contradiction of imbalanced and insufficient tourism development, and expand and strengthen the rural tourism industry?
Entering Bohou Village located in the southwest of Yalong Bay National Tourism Resort in Sanya, the road is lined with green trees and lotus flowers are blooming in the pond. Unique style homestays are located in the village. Although it is the off-season for tourism in Hainan, there are still many tourists here for leisure and vacation.
Russian tourist Angeli: Homestays are also quite good, they are very clean, and there is also a swimming pool for swimming. There are also many delicious snacks nearby.
It's hard to imagine that the past Bohou Village used to have muddy roads and dilapidated houses. In 2017, the local government launched the construction of beautiful countryside, and the village environment became more beautiful. However, what should be done for the livelihoods of the villagers? After leading the villagers on field trips, village officials decided to develop the homestay industry.
Su Shaohong, Secretary of the Party General Branch and Director of the Village Committee of Bohou Village, Jiyang District, Sanya City, Hainan Province: No villagers dare to think or try. Coincidentally, Tan Zhongxian is a person who has seen the world and has returned from his hometown as a college student.
The village committee has conducted multiple studies and targeted Tan Zhongxian, one of the few college students who emerged from Bohou Village that year. It was also in that year that Tan Zhongxian, who returned to his hometown to visit his family, finally decided to return to the village to start a business after being persuaded by village officials multiple times. He used all the savings he had accumulated over the years to establish the "Hainajie" homestay.
Tan Zhongxian, a villager from Bohou Village, Jiyang District, Sanya City, Hainan Province: At that time, I already had a relatively stable job in Guangzhou and my income was also good. We opened our first homestay after coming back from outside.
Under the leadership of Tan Zhongxian, homestays in Bohou Village gradually developed. With unique experiences and differentiated prices, Bohou Village has become a popular destination for tourists to compete with high-end tourism and vacation hotels. In order to promote the healthy and long-term development of the homestay industry, Bohou Village also established a homestay association in 2020.
Nowadays, there are a total of 61 homestays in Bohou Village, with over 1860 guest rooms. The occupancy rate of homestays during holidays is as high as about 95%. The development of homestays has also provided nearby villagers with job opportunities at their doorstep.
CCTV reporter Jin Xinzhu: The development of rural tourism in Hainan not only relies on the sea, but also on the mountains. Less than Wuzhishan, not including Hainan. Maona Village at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain is now also located in Baoshan with fruitful results.
Maona Village is a Li ethnic village located at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain, backed by Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park. The local area fully utilizes the good ecological environment and villages with Li ethnic characteristics to hold a series of "Rainforest+" activities, attracting tourists to "go deep".
Gao Li, the first secretary of Maona Village in Shuiman Township, Wuzhishan City, Hainan Province: Our city has invited the China Youth Travel Service to make an overall plan for Maona Village, such as the comprehensive tourist service center at the entrance of our village, as well as some rainforest tree houses, boutique homestays, and rice paddies in the village.
Now, Maona Village is upgrading its tourism infrastructure, and a new tourist service center has begun to take shape. The renovation of the exterior facade of the residential buildings highlights the characteristics of the Li ethnic group. In 2022, Maona Village received 58800 tourists and generated tourism revenue of 2.9421 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 245.48%.
In recent years, Hainan has issued a series of policy documents such as the "Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Rural Tourism", and formulated standards such as the "Classification and Evaluation of Rural Homestay Service Quality" and the "Identification of Rural Tourism Vacation Areas in Hainan Province". As of June this year, Hainan has a total of 255 coconut level rural tourism sites and more than 160 rated rural homestays.
Cultural and tourism integration provides strong support for the construction of free trade ports
Around the construction of an international tourism consumption center, Hainan has accelerated the cultivation of flagship international tourism consumption projects and created a number of high-quality characteristic cultural and commercial blocks. Qilou Old Street is one of them, which, while retaining its original style, integrates traditional culture with modern lifestyle through overall renovation, becoming a well-known tourist check-in destination.
The renovation of the old arcade street has been ongoing for over 10 years, and recently, the first phase of the renovation project is nearing completion. Here, the reporter met a woman wearing a blue qipao walking on the street, who was giving repair suggestions to the workers.
Zhao Aihua is an expert in repairing the old arcade street. In her eyes, the old street is like an elderly person who needs careful care. Apart from municipal roads and supporting power grid renovation projects, the most important thing is to find and restore the color of the building from a century ago.
Zhao Aihua, an expert in the renovation project of the old arcade street in Haikou City: We found photos of the original style from the Republic of China period, analyzed its materials, and also analyzed its color. So the brick red color we are making now is the color of its original architecture.
Zhao Aihua told us that the restoration process of the arcade old street not only seeks the initial color of each building, but also revitalizes the space between buildings. In recent years, through planned investment promotion and layout, the commercial formats here have become more diverse, ranging from single specialty stores to homestays, cafes, catering, cultural and creative stores, and many time-honored stores have also been restored. Nowadays, in the early morning, one can feel the charm of a century ago in the quiet old street. As noon approached, the lively fireworks atmosphere reshaped a modern old street.
Foreign tourist: This building is like ours in Italy. There are many old streets in Italy, and many shops sell local refreshing and cooling products. We really like this environment. I really like this old street because it combines traditional and modern things.
Zhao Aihua, an expert in the renovation project of the old arcade street in Haikou City: I usually come to the old street for a walk and take a look almost every week. I am really happy to see tourists from other places and some international friends coming here to check in. Including some foreigners who say they like to daydream and drink coffee here, and enjoy the feeling of drinking a coconut on the street.
Repair the old as before, open up for development. In the old arcade street, a century old inheritance of partridge tea is also trying to create a taste that more people like.
Xi Zhiqiang, founder of the revitalization of the old arcade street business, said: "So we made a blend of partridge tea and coffee.". Based on the theme of Qilou Old Street, we have developed the Partridge Nanyang Diao. In this hot summer on the old street, drinking a sip of refreshing coffee and partridge tea combined with the Partridge Nanyang Diao is very nostalgic.
In recent years, Hainan has accelerated the promotion of upgrading and upgrading the tourism industry, with characteristic cultural districts and a number of high-quality cultural and tourism projects being accelerated, continuously enriching the tourism, cultural, and sports consumption formats. The latest statistical data shows that during this year's May Day holiday, Hainan Province received over 3.2 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 141.5%. Nowadays, the integration of culture and tourism is providing strong support for the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.
