Through the ‘PHOTO SANYA 2026’ overseas tourism promotion project - Decoding Sanya’s Tourism Resources and Global Cultural Tourism Strategic Layout
June 22, 2026 – Hosted by the Sanya Tourism Board, “PHOTO SANYA 2026”, the European influencers FAM Trip programme, officially kicks off in Sanya. Six outstanding social media influencers and six European travel agents from France, Germany, Italy and other nations embark on a six-day, five-night immersive on-site tour across Sanya, capturing the city’s unique charm through their lenses. Far more than a core platform for Sanya to showcase its tourism resources to European markets, this FAM Trip programme serves as a pivotal implementation of Sanya’s two-way global cultural tourism strategy of "Going Out – Inviting In", fully unpacking the core logic behind Sanya’s upgrade into an international, high-quality cultural tourism resort destination.
Three Core Dimensions Unlocked: The Diverse DNA of Sanya’s Tourism Resources
The “PHOTO SANYA 2026” project features three elaborate immersive themed itineraries: natural scenery, urban culture and gourmet cuisine. Covering Sanya’s flagship cultural and tourism offerings, the tours enable European guests to immerse themselves in the unique charm of Sanya, where mountains, seas, culture and landscapes converge, and fully demonstrate three core strengths of the city’s tourism resources.
1. Unique Tropical Natural Scenery: China’s Exclusive Tropical Coastal Ecological Treasure
As China’s sole tropical coastal tourist city, Sanya boasts unparalleled ecological endowments. The natural scenery itinerary featured in the programme showcases a diversified landscape ecosystem integrating mountains, seas, rainforests, islands and canyons. Seamlessly blending tropical coastal vistas, rainforest landforms and distinctive island scenery, Sanya has built a natural tourism product portfolio rich in ornamental, experiential and exclusive value, delivering an irreplaceable tropical coastal getaway experience for global travellers.
3. Distinctive Gourmet Tourism Resources: Immersive Experiences of Island Flavours and Folk Culture
Cuisine stands as a core carrier of cultural tourism experiences. The gourmet itinerary integrates Sanya’s culinary culture into every segment of the journey, crafting an immersive tasting experience where stunning scenery goes hand in hand with local delicacies. Highlights include sumptuous fresh seafood feasts with catches straight from the sea, authentic street food from local culinary districts, time-honoured Li and Miao ethnic dishes, authentic snacks at night markets, themed catering at scenic spots and tailor-made gourmet offerings at high-end hotels. Sanya has cultivated a gourmet tourism system centred on seafood, highlighted by Li and Miao ethnic specialities and complemented by diverse street food. Through the deep integration of "cuisine + scenic setting", visitors can savour authentic local flavours while absorbing the island’s lifestyle and folk customs, enabling in-depth gastronomic cultural tourism engagement.
Strategic Direction Anchored by Berlin Signings: The Comprehensive Layout of Sanya’s Global Cultural Tourism Strategy
The smooth rollout of this FAM Trip programme is no isolated marketing campaign, but a vital component of Sanya’s 2026 global cultural tourism strategy, whose core framework was finalised during the city’s mission to Berlin, Germany, this March.
In March 2026, capitalising on enhanced bilateral high-level exchanges between China and Germany, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sport of Hainan Province joined hands with the Sanya Tourism Board to stage tourism and cultural promotion events in Berlin, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic, at the 60th ITB Berlin – the world’s premier cultural and tourism trade fair. A string of landmark strategic Memoranda of Understanding were signed: deep content cooperation with world-leading cultural tourism platform Lonely Planet, plus strategic partnership agreements with multiple international airlines and top overseas OTAs to expand flight networks, tourism product distribution channels and content dissemination pipelines. Meanwhile, the PHOTO SANYA 2026 Global Photography Talent Programme was officially launched targeting Central and Eastern European markets, extending targeted invitations to European travel agents and content creators for immersive on-site tours in Sanya, formally kicking off the 2026 overseas marketing campaign targeting Central and Eastern Europe.
This series of signings outline Sanya’s three-pronged market expansion strategy integrating content, routes and products, establishing a closed-loop two-way system of "proactive global outreach and inbound conversion on location":
Flight networks as the foundation: Leveraging the operational dividends brought by the rollout of the Seventh-Freedom Air, Sanya deepens strategic cooperation with international carriers to continuously expand air links between Europe and Sanya and refine its global flight network, resolving core transport bottlenecks for inbound European audiences and delivering seamless travel options for European tourists heading to Sanya.
Content creation as the core pillar: Partnering with top global cultural and tourism content platforms including Lonely Planet, Sanya builds an international, professional content dissemination ecosystem. Concurrently, the global influencer recruitment programme creates a Europe-based local content creation matrix, communicating Sanya’s cultural and tourism appeal through perspectives and languages familiar to overseas audiences to break cultural barriers and achieve targeted global brand building.
Tourism products as the bridge: Collaborating with overseas OTAs and local European travel agents, exclusive discount vouchers are launched for European visitors. Customised tourism products tailored to European market demands are developed, covering everything from sightseeing excursions and family getaways to outdoor adventure tours that cater to diverse visitor segments. The full value chain – from content exposure and product conversion to inbound tourism growth – is connected to realise integrated brand promotion and tangible business results.
Building on this framework, Sanya has upgraded its strategic deployment by partnering with the European Travel Commission to roll out a series of online interactive activities titled the China-Europe Urban Cultural Dialogue. This marks the first bespoke official cooperation between the European Travel Commision — Europe’s top cultural and tourism authority — and a standalone tourist destination in China. Capitalising on the FIA Formula E World Championship hosted in Sanya, the two sides will host multi-day online interactions themed around folk customs, trendy lifestyles, local delicacies and more. Through short videos, graphic features, interactive quizzes and topic-based discussions, the collaboration facilitates two-way cultural communication and in-depth integration between China and Europe, delivering robust authoritative endorsement for Sanya’s international development.
A Closed-Loop Strategy Delivers Tangible Results: Sanya Steadily Advancing Towards a World-Class Cultural Tourism Benchmark
The official launch of the “PHOTO SANYA 2026” project marks the formation of a complete closed-loop system for Sanya’s "Going Out – Inviting In" global cultural tourism strategy, yielding phased fruitful outcomes spanning strategic planning, on-site implementation, resource showcase and market conversion.
By inviting Europe-based social media influencers and travel agents to experience Sanya in person, the city successfully breaks down cultural barriers in overseas marketing. European guests produce authentic, vivid original content from localised perspectives to share Sanya’s diverse cultural and tourism highlights with European audiences, enabling more precise and effective international brand outreach. Meanwhile, the campaign partners with local travel agencies to roll out exclusive travel incentives for European visitors. Combined with channel cooperation agreements sealed in Berlin, travel intent among European tourists is translated into actual tourism consumption, delivering end-to-end operations covering brand exposure, cultural exchange, product rollout and inbound visitor growth.
More importantly, the “PHOTO SANYA 2026” project fosters long-term partnerships between Sanya and European tourism practitioners and social media influencers. This enables Sanya to accurately capture shifting demands within European markets, continuously optimise its tourism products and service systems, upgrade international reception standards, and form a positive cycle of "market demand – product optimisation – inbound growth – brand enhancement". Market statistics validate these achievements: according to Ctrip International, from March to May 2026, the total number of online bookings for trips to Sanya originating from European source markets rose by 172.54% year-on-year, while total online tourism expenditure grew by 151.9% year-on-year, demonstrating accelerated recovery and robust growth momentum for Sanya’s European tourism market.
From proactively showcasing Sanya at world-leading cultural tourism expositions and forging global strategic partnerships, to precisely inviting overseas guests for immersive on-site tours and joint content creation, Sanya has established a mature, comprehensive global cultural tourism marketing system. Riding the wave of Hainan Free Trade Port development, Sanya will further consolidate its dual-drive strategy of "overseas promotion and inbound experience", expanding partnerships with cultural and tourism stakeholders worldwide. Using cultural tourism as a medium to bring Chinese and foreign communities closer and boost industrial cooperation, Sanya will continuously amplify its unique tourism brand advantages.
