Hainan Circum-island tourism highway was selected as a national demonstration case of integrated development of transportation and tourism

Aerial view of Danzhou Volcanic coast section of Hainan Circum-island tourism highway. Photo by Zhang Mao, all media reporter of Hainan Daily.

Recently, the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Office of the Ministry of Transport and other departments jointly issued a notice, announcing the second batch of 68 demonstration cases of integrated development of transportation and tourism, and Hainan Circum-island tourism highway was selected as a typical case of trunk tourism highway.

"Transportation and tourism integration" is a hot word in the field of tourism in recent years. It is not a simple superposition of transportation and tourism elements, but an interactive resource integration, through the mutual promotion and mutual empowerment between the two, to achieve the "1+1>2" agglomeration effect.

The selected typical case Hainan Island tourism highway was completed and opened to traffic on December 18, 2023, with a total length of 988 kilometers, running through 12 coastal cities and counties such as Haikou, Wenchang, Qionghai and Wanning, passing through 84 landscape areas of 9 categories along the way. It connects the high-speed rail around the island, expressways, national and provincial trunk lines, and builds a tourism transportation system of "fast forward and slow travel" in Hainan.

Wetlands, windmills, coconut groves, estuaries, fields. Along the road around the island, people can enjoy the natural scenery of different styles along the way, so that the road becomes a journey. The relevant person in charge of the provincial Transportation Investment Holding Co., LTD., introduced that the round-island tourism road is a "process is the purpose" global tourism model, with the goal of slow travel and slow travel, and fully demonstrate the resource landscape of Hainan Bay, shoreline, beach and so on.

This is a scenic road, but also a humanistic road. In the section near the town and tourist resort, tourists can also experience the cultural customs of Hainan, such as Wenchang space culture, Danzhou Dongpo culture, Lingao red culture and so on.

"Deepening the integration of transportation and tourism is an important way to develop Hainan's tourism resources." The relevant person in charge of the provincial tourism and culture, Radio, television and sports department said that high-quality tourism resources such as bays, oceans, islands and tropical rainforests are all over Hainan province, and land, water and air transportation are needed to effectively activate them. The integration of transportation infrastructure networks and transportation services can better promote the optimal allocation of these tourism resources.

Looking at the whole province, the development pattern of sea, land and air integrating transport and tourism in Hainan has initially taken shape. In addition to the road around the island, Hainan's Marine yacht tourism has been hot in recent years, relying on the province's 13 yacht marinas, more than 2,300 yacht berths, more than 1,400 yachts and perfect yacht supporting services, creating another brand of Hainan tourism. With the rise of low-altitude tourism, Hainan relies on the advantages of low-altitude airspace policy and unique natural conditions such as high visibility in the air and long flying days, and promotes low-altitude tourism projects such as helicopter sightseeing, hot air balloons, paragliding and parachuting to receive about 28,000 tourists in 2023, with an annual output value of about 90 million yuan.

The person in charge said that in the next step, the Provincial Department of Tourism and culture, Radio, television and sports will base on the advantages of Hainan Free Trade Port policy integration and innovation, vigorously promote the integration of transportation and tourism, and strive to achieve high-quality development of tourism. (Reporter Liu Xiaohui and Cao Mazhi)