​Clipper Race Highlights Booming Sanya Tourism Industry

The tourism industry in Sanya has been hailed as world class by the Clipper Race crew, following the successful inaugural stopover in China’s tropical paradise.

Around 200 crew members from all walks of life and representing 22 different nationalities were in Sanya for nine days from 24 February until 4 March with the Clipper Race.

Early figures show that the crew fully embraced the local tourism industry and in total, crew took part in 139 tourism experiences, with Cirque du Soliel performance, ‘Toruk’, being the most popular.

In order to give the Clipper Race crew a proper introduction to all the delights of Sanya, a number of tourism days were organised, including one planned and executed by tourism body, Visit Sanya. One crew member from each of the eleven teams attended the day, which included a visit to the Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone, Binlang Valley, and Romance Park, as well as meals at incredible local restaurants.

“The whole day was incredible,” says 56 year old New Zealand farmer Greg Glover, a round the world crew member on HotelPlanner.com.

“Going out to the coast where the great Buddha statue is, the vegetarian lunch was amazing, just so tasty, seeing the traditional village was mind blowing and what a finish to the day at Romance Park. Jet skis on stage!

“Thank you doesn’t seem enough for the day. Visit Sanya has got an amazing product and from a tourism point of view, the tourists that come here could be nothing but happy with what there is to see and what there is to do.”

Nasdaq round the world crew member Alexandra Weaver, a 55 year old Doctor from Canada, adds: “It was so generous to provide the day for Clipper Race crew. Everything was of the highest quality, everything was superbly organised. I’m so grateful to Visit Sanya for doing it and allowing the eleven of us to come along.”

76 per cent of crew admitted that they would have not considered visiting Sanya if not for the Clipper Race. But before departing for Race 8 of the Clipper 2017-18 Race from Sanya to Qingdao in northern China, more than a third of Clipper Race crew polled indicated they would like to return to Sanya, whilst almost half confirmed that they would recommend Sanya as a tourist destination.

The Clipper Race will return to Sanya during the 2019-20 edition of the race, which will begin in the Summer of 2019. The current 2017-18 edition will finish in Liverpool on July 28 2018, bringing an end to the 40,000 nautical mile round the globe race.