Sanya attracts more international hotels

ELEVEN years of efforts have earned Sanya its status as China’s number one holiday destination.And as it works hard at establishing itself as a world-class holiday destination, it is getting a definite boost with the entry of many international brand hotels. It has already been recognised as a rising new star among all holiday destinations in Asia. By the end of last year, it had about 171 hotels with over 24,000 rooms. Of these 16 are five-stars and another 16 five-star hotel projects have been approved by the authority, of which eight are under construction and four already operational. This will bring the total number of five-star hotels in Sanya to 40 in two or three years’ time. Sanya currently ranks third after Beijing and Shanghai in terms of Chinese cities with the greatest supply of top-star hotels.Differentiation and subdivision are gradually taking shape among top hotels in Sanya. With the coming of such wellknown world brands as Sheraton, Hilton and Marriott, new benchmarks are emerging even among the five-star hotels here. Before long, more world hotel giants will come to town. Between year-end and the beginning of next year, Mandarin Hotel Hainan, Riz-Carton, Banyan Tree and some other top of the top hotels will open to business. It is said that Four Seasons, St. Regis and Park Hyatt are also eyeing this Hainan destination.Such an increase in hotel presence is closely related to the potential demand for the region. Statistics show that in 2006, almost five million people visited Sanya, an increase of about 42 percent over the precious year. Overseas travellers increased by about 84 percent. A big chunk of these arrivals were represented by Russians numbering 840,000, a year-on-year increase of 195 percent, while Korean visitors rose by 182 percent and Japanese tourists by over 80 percent.Together, these represent Sanya’s top overseas source markets. The accessibility provided by charters from Russia, Korea and Japan was pivotal to the increase in arrivals. Chartered planes were also deployed from Britain to Sanya this summer. Stakeholders are keeping their fingers crossed that this will boost the European source market in the future. According to the sales and marketing director of Mandarin Hotel Hainan, Russia is becoming a fast emerging source market to Sanya and is mostly composed by pure holiday-makers.This is different from Europe and the US, Hong Kong and Singapore. To them, Sanya is more like a MICE destination. Not long ago, travel agents from Britain came on a familiarisation tour to Sanya. They showed great interest in the MICE market of Sanya. For the moment, most long-haul travellers to Sanya come by air via Hong Kong. As a result, Sanya is often promoted together with Hong Kong in bundled packages.America is a potential market for Sanya as the MICE market demand from the US for China keeps rising, which is further simulated by the continuous efforts to open Sino-American air routes.For the time being, Beijing and Shanghai are the top two destinations for American MICE travelers. Sanya and Macau, as statistics show, are also among the area of interest for incentive travel agents in the US.Mandarin Hotel Hainan will open for business at this year end.To sharpen the competitive edge of Sanya in , making it hard for Sanya to promote itself against the strong competition from the established South-east Asian destinations.