Chinese residents hail the government's decision to turn Hainan into an international tourist destination. Officials, potential tourists, tour guides and Hainan locals shared their opinions on the Central Government's decision with Beijing Review.

Wei Liucheng (Secretary of the CPC Committee of Hainan Province):

(XINHUA)

As Hainan embarks on a journey to build itself into an international tourist destination, the local government is determined to make several major moves in 2010.

First, we will hold the first Boao International Tourism Forum in March, invite large-scale commercial retailers to build duty free shops on the island and start constructing major tourist projects, such as a space flight theme park and a tropical marine park.

We will completely revamp the island's infrastructure, modify itinerary and make significant improvements to public toilets in major tourist destinations. Security and sanitation efforts in urban and rural areas will also be improved. Investment will also be made to build multi-language travel websites on the Internet and support the development of pollution-free hi-tech industries, as well as agriculture.

The ultimate purpose of the whole plan to build Hainan into an international tourist destination is to lift the local people's living standards. To achieve this goal, the government will commit 55 percent of the newly added government revenue to resolving problems closely related to people's lives.

Environmental protection is one of our greatest concerns in the development process. Indeed, Hainan's GDP will be trimmed if we put more efforts into maintaining ecological balance. But we must always keep in mind that the beautiful natural scenery invaluable to our people is also the most important source of income. Hainan is promoting the development of a low-carbon economy across the island.

According to the State Council, the modern service industry and tertiary industry will account for 60 percent of Hainan's GDP by 2020—reaching the level of that of a developed country.

By using "international" to describe Hainan's goal, we have been striving to live up to those standards. In terms of city planning, services and infrastructure, we refer to relevant international standards.

Most of the existing 40 five-star hotels and the other 20 five-star hotels under construction are managed by multinational hotel groups with international visions and international standards.

But it will take time to teach the local people how to speak foreign languages and promote the overall quality of local residents.

Hu Zucai (senior official at the National Development and Reform Commission):

(CFP)

There are three distinct features about Hainan as an international tourist destination.

Hainan is the only tropical island province in China, bestowed with a sound environment and unique tropical tourist resources. After years of preliminary development, it has already laid a solid foundation for further development and opening to foreign tourists.

Hainan is the biggest special economic zone in the country, which enables it to reform and innovate its system with few limitations. To make a major breakthrough in economic development, Hainan must learn from internationally accepted experiences while making bold explorations to develop more tourist products. This can not only sharpen the island's competitiveness in the international market, but also provide valuable experiences to the development of the tourist industry throughout the country.

The ecological beauty is the most prominent advantage Hainan has compared to other Chinese provinces. When promoting tourism, the local government and people should also attach great significance to environmental protection.

Chen Qi (veteran tour guide with the Hainan Bureau of China International Travel Service):

A lot needs to be done before Hainan can really be called an "international" tourist destination.

As a local resident, I really appreciate what nature has granted us. In terms of natural environment, Hainan is as refreshing as those of the Maldives and Phuket. But to match the international standard, Hainan must take serious efforts to upgrade its hardware infrastructure and software—mainly the people's quality of living.

We should build a number of large entertainment projects or theme parks so that when people leave here they have something to remember other than our beautiful scenery that can be seen elsewhere. For instance, many kids remember Hong Kong mostly for the fabulous Disneyland.

Meanwhile, there are few things in Hainan that can be taken home as souvenirs. Local specialties are also rare, but now have problems with brand recognition at home and abroad.

We always tell our customers that Hainan's agricultural products, such as coconut drinks and seafoods, are the most natural without any industrial pollutants. Also, Hainan has the most suitable soil to grow coffee beans. But the problem is we cannot provide customers with reputable and delicious products because local producers are mostly small and spend too much time making what little money they can instead of building brands and improving the quality of their products.