Dai Bin | Hainan is an important symbol of tourism development in China.

What advantages does Hainan have in building an international tourism consumption center? How can we make use of the policies such as visa-free entry, air route rights, and tax exemptions in the Free Trade Port to attract more international tourists to Hainan? This episode of "The 'Experts' Talk' in the Free Trade Port" is held in Beijing, and we are interviewing Dai Bin, the director of the China Tourism Academy.

To become a world-class tourist destination, Hainan has obvious advantages.

Reporter: Tourism is a remarkable brand for Hainan. The 2025 Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Conference proposed that efforts should be made to accelerate the construction of an international tourism consumption center with global influence, and to create a world-class tourist destination. What advantages does Hainan have in striving for world-class status?

Dai Bin: I think there are mainly five advantages. The biggest advantage is the institutional advantage. Since 2009, Hainan has proposed to build an international tourism island. Later, it also proposed to establish an international tourism consumption center. Now that the free trade port has officially started its closed operation, we can see that many policy effects have been released very quickly. For instance, the opening of the seventh navigation right, which we have never had before.

The second factor is geographical advantages and transportation advantages. The Hainan Island now has advantages in aviation, shipping, maritime transportation, and the island's expressways. These advantages are gradually improving. More importantly, with the opening of the seventh navigation right, tourists not only can come, but also can spread out freely. They can leave very promptly and conveniently.

The third advantage is the source of tourists. We often compare Hainan with Hawaii. The biggest difference is that the Hawaiian Islands do not have a domestic tourism market as large as ours. By 2025, we will have 6.5 billion domestic tourists. Hainan has a natural advantage in the tourism market.

The fourth factor is resource advantages. I have visited many islands around the world and found them beautiful, but they lacked popularity and a sense of liveliness. However, places like Sanya and Haikou have already developed an international urban concept. They have resource advantages as well as dense living advantages. I often say that whether a place can become a good tourist destination, the presence of a sense of烟火气 (liveliness)， cultural flavor， and technological feel is the most important.

The last point is about the future development advantages. For instance, the commercial space launch in Wenchang, as well as marine tourism. The potential in the future is huge, the space has expansibility, and the products have innovativeness. Additionally, Hainan has advantages in healthcare, such as biopharmaceuticals and artificial intelligence. This enables people to envision an unlimited future in this place. This is the best. In my mind, Hainan is a very promising tourist destination and a major tourist province. I am full of confidence in Hainan.

Reporter: You have listed so many advantages. So, what role does tourism in Hainan play in the current national tourism development pattern?

Dai Bin: Hainan has always been an important marker for the development of China's tourism industry. From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, domestic tourism began to take off, and Hainan immediately caught our attention. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the tourism industry in Hainan has entered a fast lane. Places like Dahuoshan, Haitang Bay, all the way to Wenchang, and Boao in Qionghai, have all become important markers for domestic vacation tourism and even for major diplomatic events. However, at the same time, we must also recognize that compared with some provinces in the mainland, Hainan's local source of tourists is limited. Therefore, we need to strengthen the development of the international tourism market to make up for the shortcomings of our local market.

When appreciating history and culture, one should also consider the future of technology.

Reporter: The "14-15" planning proposal suggests that a number of new consumption scenarios with wide coverage and high visibility should be established. You have been paying close attention to Hainan. Which of the consumption scenarios in Hainan have left a particularly deep impression on you?

Dai Bin: When it comes to Hainan, from south to north, there are three places that have left a very deep impression on me. One is the internationalized resort area in Sanya. From Atlantis to a series of resort hotels, when you enter it, wow, an international resort area is nothing more than this. Sanya is a place where traditional historical culture and modern commercial innovation blend together, and it has become a top choice for holiday resorts.

Secondly, when you arrive in Wenchang, you can enjoy Dadong tea and watch the space rockets soaring into the sky. At that moment, I felt very dazed. Where am I? Is this Hainan? Yes, it is Hainan. The development of any place, if it is only traditional, it cannot envision the future and people won't stay. A good place must be able to see the continuous historical culture and also the ever-lasting technological future. This is a very prominent impression that Wenchang left on me.

Then, when I arrived in Haikou, objectively speaking, it was precisely this kind of cumulative advantage that had a profound impact on me. I particularly enjoy visiting the Old Street of the Pedestrian Walkway. Not only can I experience the sense of history and timelessness left behind by the past, but I can also see contemporary young people going shopping, dining, and exploring cultural creations. What's more, the main operators of this place are also young people. From them, you can sense the vibrant future. When I landed at Haikou's Meilan Airport, the modern architecture and international design style of this airport greeted me head-on.

From north to south, in each of these three places, there is an old and a new, a traditional and a modern aspect. When I saw them all unfolding before me, I felt that this must be a place that embodies humanistic economics and nurtures new productive forces. When it comes to the art and culture of Hainan, I cannot just tell him the legend of Luhuan Du, nor can I sing "Come to the Farthest Reaches of the Sea" to everyone every day. I hope there will be more modern music, drama, dance, art plays, and small theater plays. They must be new scenarios and new spaces that can meet the demands of modernization. Such scenarios and spaces, if they cannot inherit our long history and cannot allow our traditional culture to be creatively inherited and innovatively developed, they will lose their roots. But without the guidance of modern technology, they will have no future.

Developing youth-friendly tourism

Reporter: You mentioned the young people several times just now. The young demographic is currently the main force driving consumption. Do you think Hainan should further leverage its advantages to create some new consumption forms and scenarios that young people would enjoy and be willing to spend on and pay for?

Dai Bin: Were many of these new scenarios and new cultural spaces planned by us, or were they created by young people and grew spontaneously? It's as if a flowing river suddenly stops flowing. This ancient village still sings the old songs. Of course, for those of us who are nostalgic, this is certainly wonderful. However, our society, after all, is like a river flowing into the sea. It must always keep moving forward. So, we need to see what the future momentum is? What attracts more young people to come here to start businesses and create? Young people will then know what their needs are, and they will know who they are serving.

The era of demand-driven travel has arrived. Nowadays, when young people arrive at a destination, their demands are becoming increasingly diverse. They may no longer follow the patterns we used to have, such as arriving at Meilan Airport at a certain time, checking into a hotel at another time, getting up at yet another time, and watching the sunrise at yet another time. No more. He won't create a schedule. "The post-80s" will make travel plans, and now the "00s" don't even make travel plans anymore. Therefore, terms like "lying-in-bed travel", "replacement travel", "posing travel", and "cowardly travel" will emerge. What does this reflect behind the scenes? I don't want to be defined. So, how to create new products for young people is very simple. Just call over their contemporaries, treat them well, and they will create new tourism products and scenarios for the new era. Let young people create their own future themselves. Hainan should develop a youth-friendly city and youth-friendly tourism. The government should advocate from this perspective, and the way will be opened up.