China might not be most people's idea of the ultimate beach destination, but this might be about to change.
The Chinese government wants Hainan, the country's only tropical island, to be an international tourism destination by 2020.
Boosting tourism on the island is part of the government's Belt and Road Initiative in terms of fostering greater cultural exchanges with other countries.
Tourism has also been classed as one of China's key strategic industries and one that will play a role in its transformation to a more services-led economy and away from low-cost manufacturing.
The number of inbound overseas tourists into China was 128.5 million last year, according to government figures, and the United Nations' World Tourism Organization forecasts the country will be the world's biggest tourism destination by 2020.
Hainan, however, faces a tough challenge attracting international tourists. Last year, only 650,000, or 1.4 percent, of its 47.89 million visitors came from outside China.
The island is partly handicapped by its own success. Many wealthy Chinese have multimillion-dollar second homes and their yachts moored in Sanya, Hainan's main resort, which has become a playground of the rich.
At certain times of the year, particularly Chinese New Year, hotel room rates can skyrocket in the resort, with the starting price for a week's accommodation often not leaving much change from 50,000 yuan ($8,050).
This can make an expensive destination compared with established resorts in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, which are also more international.
Luo Baoming, the top Party official in Hainan, is keen to take on the challenge.
"To build Hainan into a world-class specialist tourist zone is vital for the province to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative," he said.
"Tourism is the bridge for promoting friendship and cultural exchanges. It is the essential platform for us to be positioned on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road."
Hainan has made huge strides as a tourism center. In 1988, it just had 1.2 million tourists, with 204,600 from outside China.
International tourists hit a peak of 1 million in 2008 when the overall total number of tourists was 20 million, less than half the current total.
The number of domestic tourists to the island continues to increase at a much faster rate than those from abroad.
Yet a number of policies are in place to attract more international tourists, including visa-free entry for up to 15 days for tour groups of more than five from 26 specified countries.
One of the problems for the Hainan government is that it only has a limited annual tourism advertising budget of $2 million, and this also has been squeezed in recent years.
The local government has been working with the BBC to build a special Hainan webpage, which is updated twice a month.
It also cooperates similarly with TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site.
In addition, it places billboard ads in the baggage reclaim areas of airports in key target countries such as Russia, Australia, Thailand and South Korea.
At a restaurant in the center of Haikou, Chen Tiejun, deputy director-general of the Hainan Tourism Development Commission, said it is a challenge.
"We have to make better use of the money we have. We are also actually adjusting our strategy by doing more online marketing, which is more cost-effective," he said.
In London, Ben Briggs, marketing manager of Wendy Wu Tours UK, the leading China specialist tour operator, does believe some of this marketing is paying off.
"It (Hainan) is definitely becoming more prominent in the United Kingdom. They (Hainan tourism officials) have been a little bit more proactive in terms of attending trade shows," he said.
"I think there is a big awareness problem about Hainan generally. Not many people know of it. It is definitely important for them to get tour operators on board to help them promote their messages."
Ed Robertson, consulting editor of the Travel Trade Gazette, a leading travel trade magazine, believes Hainan might have chosen the right time to promote itself as an international tourism destination.
Many European tourists are looking for alternative destinations after the terrorist attack on a beach near Sousse in Tunisia on June 26, which killed 38.
"Traditionally, the Mediterranean has always been popular, but it has been susceptible to problems of late. Sadly, the whole of north Africa is not great. The UK foreign office is advising none but essential travel to Tunisia. There have been problems in Egypt, and even Turkey is having a tough time because people see it being near Syria. So new destinations are going to need to open up," he said.
