New Year’s Day Double Surge: Hainan’s Offshore Duty-Free Hits RMB 505M in Two Days; On Day One, Sanya & Haikou Flight Bookings Lead the Nation in Growth

On December 18, Hainan Free Trade Port officially launched island-wide “closed-loop” operations. On the very first day, Sanya delivered an impressive start: the city’s duty-free sales reached RMB 118 million.

That strong opening quickly proved to be a preview of the New Year holiday momentum. According to CCTV News, even before the holiday began, flight bookings to Hainan were already rising noticeably.

Data shows that as of December 20, domestic flight bookings to Hainan had surpassed 720,000 tickets—up around 10% year on year. During the New Year holiday, that upward trend only accelerated, with inbound travel and tourism spending climbing sharply and delivering a “strong start” for Hainan’s cultural and tourism market in the new year.

Qunar data indicates that on January 1, the growth rate of flight bookings to Haikou and Sanya ranked highest nationwide. On the international front, Sanya’s inbound flight ticket orders surged fivefold year on year, while Haikou posted growth of more than threefold—placing them among the top two cities in the country for inbound booking growth. Travelers from Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, and Australia formed the core of Hainan’s inbound visitor base.

On the first day of the holiday, shopping districts anchored by Sanya International Duty Free Complex and Hainan Tourism Duty Free City were packed with visitors, driving a sharp rise in hotel occupancy nearby. Hotel stays around Hainan Tourism Duty Free City increased by roughly 1.5 times year on year, while occupancy near Sanya International Duty Free Complex rose by nearly 1 time.

On January 1, residents and tourists shop for duty-free products at Hainan Tourism Duty Free City in Sanya. Source: Hainan Daily

According to statistics from Haikou Customs, over the first two days of the New Year holiday, customs authorities supervised 307,000 duty-free items sold—up 48.3% year on year. The number of shoppers reached 65,000, an increase of 60.9%, while total spending hit RMB 505 million, soaring 121.5% year on year.

Road trips around the island also emerged as a standout trend. On January 1, self-driving travel popularity in Sanya and Haikou rose by 81% and 96% respectively, ranking them as the top two most popular self-drive destinations nationwide. In terms of hotel stays, the most in-demand locations were Sanya, Haikou, Wanning, Lingshui, and Wenchang.

In fact, since the launch of closed-loop operations, passenger and freight transport across the Qiongzhou Strait has maintained steady growth.

Using December 18, 2025 as the benchmark date, the two weeks before (December 4–17) saw approximately 640,000 passenger trips and about 200,000 vehicle crossings. In the two weeks after (December 18–31), passenger volume rose to around 710,000 trips, with vehicles reaching about 210,000 crossings. That represents a 10.9% increase in passenger transport and a 5% rise in vehicle transport compared with the previous period.

CCTV News also reported that Hainan is set to roll out 177 cultural, tourism, and sports events during the 2026 New Year and Spring Festival holiday period. This includes 87 tourism promotion activities, 69 cultural performances, and 21 sporting events.

Edited by: Xu Shaohang, Xiang Jianglin
Proofread by: Cheng Peng
Cover image source: Hainan Daily
Compiled by National Business Daily from CCTV News, Hainan Daily, and public information