HAIKOU, August 2./TASS/. The city of Sanya, Hainan's southernmost settlement, will allocate 50 million yuan ($ 7.2) for the development of tourism industry annually. This is stated in a message published on the official page of the Hainan Free Trade Port on WeChat social network.

According to authorities, one of the key funding objectives is the modernization of tourism industry. In particular, it provides for bringing local tourist attractions in line with international standards, creating new consumer products in the hotel industry, improving tourism services with a focus on attracting goreign guests. Funding for these purposes will be distributed both in the form of soft loans, as well as premiums and financial assistance.

At the same time, authorities boosted efforts to promote tourism in Sanya to increase the number of tourists. In order to do so, on July 29, Euronews TV channel launched a series of short films telling about holidays in the city's resorts, local cuisine, hotels and tourist attractions. The number of flights from Sanya to the most remote corners of the world is constantly growing - at present, such flights are carried out in 40 international directions. Over a dozen international exhibitions take place in Sanya during the year, the city is becoming more and more popular across the world also due to the development of yachting.

According to official statistics, in 2018 over 716,000 tourists visited the city of Sanya - an increase of 3.4% year on year. From January to June, the dynamics turned out to be much more impressive: more than 339.700 guests visited the resort, which is 22.6% more than in 2018.