Hainan to raise duty-free limit for shoppers

Hainan is set to raise the duty-free limit for domestic and international visitors, reported UK-based research firm’s Moodie Report China this past week. The island’s customs authorities are expected to raise the duty-free limit from 5,000 yuan ($795) to 8,000 yuan ($1,275). The change is expected to take place sometime this month, according to the article. In April 2011, Hainan launched its duty-free program, which is aimed at boosting luxury consumption, allowing mainland Chinese tourists to buy duty-free upon their departure from the island. To date, the duty-free shopping program has chalked up big sales numbers. Since its opening, luxury goods sales at the China Duty Free Group’s duty-free store in the Hainan’s resort area of Sanya raked in 1 billion yuan ($159 million) from April 2011 to January 2012. The group is planning to open another larger downtown duty-free store in 2014, located in the Haitang Bay International Shopping Complex. This move comes about as part of an initiative by the local tourism authorities to draw more visitors to the resort island of Hainan, off the south coast of China, which boasts a 1,500 km coastline of white sand beaches. Tourism is a major source of revenue for the resort island of Hainan, which has witnessed a rapid growth in its tourism industry over the past few years. The number of visitors to the island is expected to jump over the next decade or so, according to a report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) last month. Hainan’s tourism industry is expected to contribute RM 255 billion ($40 billion) to the province, the equivalent of 46 percent of the island’s total GDP by 2021. The WTTC report added that Hainan already outranks popular Asian destinations such as Hong Kong and Macau in terms of jobs in travel and tourism.