December 18, 2025

Travel demand to the island province of Hainan in South China surged after the island-wide special customs operations officially started on Thursday. 

Business operators and experts anticipated that the move will significantly ease cross-border travel, drive growth in duty-free shopping and inbound spending, attract additional international airlines, and enable more customized tourism offerings to cater to the evolving preferences of global visitors.

According to data that domestic travel platform Qunar sent to the Global Times, Hainan's Haikou and Sanya rose to top 5 travel destinations in China on Thursday in terms of searches on the platform. 

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