Duty free revenues in China’s Hainan province hit new records during the Spring Festival Golden Week holiday period, according to the state-run Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Commission.   

Sales tipped RMB100m ($14.7m) on two consecutive days (8-9 February), with income at shops in Haikou and Sanya rising by 26.3% to RMB558.27m ($83m) during the course of the week (4-10 February).

As reported, the Chinese government last year revealed plans to unveil two new offshore duty free shopping facilities in Haikou and Qionghai in a bid to lift sales from domestic and foreign visitors.

NEW OPENINGS WEIGH IN

The Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Commission states the two new stores – Haikou Riyue Plaza Duty Free Shop and Qionghai Boao Duty Free Shop – opened for business on 19 January.

Quoting Haikou Customs data, China’s official news agency Xinhua says combined sales for the four duty free shops in Sanya, Haikou and Qionghai rose by 33.6% to RMB601m during the period.

On 1 December, the offshore duty free shopping allowance ceiling for travellers to Hainan lifted from RMB16,000 ($2,432) to RMB30,000 ($4,314).

This marked the fifth adjustment to the quota since the hugely successful policy was introduced in 2011.

At the time news of the latest policy adjustment surfaced late last year, Haikou Meilan Airport Duty Free Shop told TRBusiness it was relishing the increase, which is linked invariably to a number of travel and tourism reforms feeding into the ongoing Hainan Free Trade Zone and Port Pilot.