After a promotional team formed by representatives of Sanya's well-known scenic spots and top-end resort hotels promoted Sanya's tourism resources in New Delhi and Mumbai, Sanya and India reached an agreement on the first tourist charter flight between the two.

The president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators said that Sanya will be India's choice of tropical tourist destination thanks to its mature hardware facilities and the steady economic and social environment that are better those of India's traditional tourist destinations like Thailand and the Maldives. He added that though not many Indians visit or do business in China, there is great potential for this to develop.

Wang Dongqing, the vice chairman of Sanya Tourism Association said that Sanya now has certain popularity in India. Sanya's tourism products such as MICE, wedding holidays, golf, and Buddhist themes are quite attractive to Indians.

Sanya and India's tourism industry will cooperate with HYT International Travel & Trade Proprietary Limited, a professional tourist charter company, to open the New Delhi-Sanya-Guangzhou charter flight route in the second half of 2009, and this will enable Indian tourists to get to Sanya easily and then go shopping in mainland China.

(China Hospitality News May 12, 2009)