SANYA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Italian cruise liner Costa Cruises will launch new trips linking Sanya, a coastal city in south China's Hainan Province to tourist destinations in Vietnam and the Philippines in January 2020, the company said Monday.
The Costa cruise liner will depart from Sanya on Jan. 4 and carry passengers from Sanya to cities including Da Nang, Ha Long Bay, Nha Trang in Vietnam and Manila and Subic in the Philippines.
Sanya is actively exploring ways to promote cruise tourism in the South China Sea and the new cruise lines will further facilitate the development of the city's cruise tourism, said Chen Tiejun, executive vice mayor of Sanya.
The Italian company will work with Sanya to jointly explore the cruise market, bring abundant tourism and cultural resources of Southeast Asia and new travel experiences to Chinese consumers, and support the development of southeast Asia's tourism, said Ye Peng, senior vice-president of Sales and Commercial department, Greater China and Southeast Asia, Costa Cruises.
China's first international cruise port is located in Sanya, with five berths having already been constructed.
China aims to build Hainan into a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035, with plans to ease restrictions on its offshore duty-free policy and develop cross-border cruise tourism.
