Hainan to clean up tourism to become global attraction

The provincial government would set up a long-term process to tackle problems like poor services, overcharging or "dumping" of tour groups deemed unprofitable, said Provincial Governor Luo Baoming Wednesday.

Luo made the remarks at a press conference in Beijing after the Chinese government Monday issued a plan to build Hainan into a top international destination by 2020.

"The top task for Hainan to develop into an international tourist resort is to clean up the tourism environment, including building a long-term mechanism to the manage tourism industry, levy penalties and fines on malpractice and provide more training," Luo said.

Hainan would hold a large international tourism forum in March as part of its drive to become a global destination, said Hainan Communist Party of China chief Wei Liucheng at the press conference.The forum would promote Hainan's tourism and draw many national tourism department and culture department heads, Wei said.

Hainan was designated a province in 1988 and became China's largest special economic zone the same year, enjoying preferential development policies.

Wei said Hainan would open more duty-free shops to attract tourists and shoppers following the central government guideline.

Hainan would extend its visa-free tourism policy to include Finland, Denmark, Norway, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. It already covers 21 nations, including the United States, Japan and Canada, according to the guideline; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

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