Hainan province witnesses 43.3% surge in cross-border travel

en.hainan.gov.cn

Updated: 2026-02-24

Border inspection authorities were stretched to the maximum at China’s southernmost province of Hainan — with staff processing more than 86,000 inbound and outbound passenger trips during the recent Spring Festival break.

That’s according to statistics compiled by the Haikou Exit-Entry Frontier Inspection Station — confirmed at 17:00 hrs on Feb 23 — with the numbers representing a whopping 43.3 percent year-on-year increase compared with last year’s holiday.

According to the data, during the holiday the average daily volume of inbound and outbound passengers at Haikou Meilan International Airport reached about 5,300 travelers, up 22.7 percent year on year.

At Sanya Phoenix International Airport, the average daily volume hit around 3,400 passengers, marking a year-on-year increase of 54.9 percent.

The peak travel days were on Feb 15, 16, 20 and 21. Travelers from Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Republic of South Korea, Kazakhstan and Singapore were the primary source of inbound visitors to Hainan during the Spring Festival period.

Passengers wait for their border inspections at Haikou Meilan Port. [Photo/VCG]

To cope with the holiday surge in cross-border passenger flows, the exit-entry border inspection stations at Meilan and Phoenix airports issued advance forecasts of peak traffic.

They monitored real-time passenger flow fluctuations, strengthened on-site duty coordination, optimized personnel deployment and opened additional inspection channels in advance.

The stations also boosted their on-site signage and their guidance services and introduced a series of facilitation measures.

These included 24-hour direct transits without border inspection procedures, online submissions of arrival cards for foreign nationals and online applications for group tourist visas — ensuring efficient and smooth customs clearances for both Chinese and international visitors.