In a bid to attract more cruise tourism, the Chinese island province of Hainan is planning to build a new cruise homeport in Haikou, the provincial capital city on the north coast of the island. Alan Lam reports.
As a part of the regional cruise Golden Triangle, Hainan was recently named by the Chinese government as one of its four cruise pilot areas.It is not clear whether or not this move is directly connected to its new status.
The island already has a cruise terminal in its southern resort city of Sanya. The new facility will be located within Haikou’s Xiuying Port, which will also be developed into a yacht base, away from the cargo handling port of Macun.
The need of a second terminal on this island is under critical public scrutiny. There is a credible doubt that Haikou will attract enough cruise traffic to warrant such a separate development, although the island’s popularity as a holiday destination has been growing among Chinese and international tourists.
According to the local authority, Haikou is on course to attract 1.03 million overnight visitors in 2014, an increase of 9% on 2013.
