'PHOTO SANYA 2026' Successful Close: Dual 'Going Out – Inviting In' Strategy Enables Sanya to Deepen European Market

CHINA, June 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- PHOTO SANYA 2026, the inbound tourism promotion FAM Trip programme for Central and Eastern European influencers and travel agents hosted by the Sanya Tourism Board, has come to a smooth conclusion. This event serves as a vital follow-up to Sanya’s series of "Going Out" promotional roadshows held in Berlin, Prague and other European cities this March, marking the fruitful implementation of Sanya’s two-way overseas marketing model of "promoting overseas and inviting inbound experience". The successful delivery of the programme will further consolidate Sanya’s foundation for cultural tourism cooperation with Central, Eastern European and Central Asian markets, lifting the opening-up of Hainan Free Trade Port’s cultural tourism industry to new heights.

Back in March 2026, with its official debut at the 60th ITB Berlin, the world’s premier cultural and tourism trade fair, Sanya formally launched its 2026 overseas marketing campaign targeting Central and Eastern Europe. Following its successful international showcase, the Sanya Tourism Board simultaneously unveiled the PHOTO SANYA 2026 overseas tourism promotion project, extending targeted invitations to European travel agents and social media influencers for a six-day, five-night immersive on-site tour across Sanya.

During the itinerary, 12 participants split into groups to explore three elaborate immersive themed itineraries: natural scenery, urban culture and gourmet cuisine. They paid in-depth visits to iconic cultural and tourism sites including Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone, Atlantis Sanya and Sanya Romance Park, gaining a comprehensive insight into Sanya’s premium ecological resources, profound ethnic folk culture, diverse resort offerings and dynamic development momentum as a Free Trade Port.

Throughout the experience, influencers and travel agents documented Sanya’s landscapes from an international perspective and produced a wealth of authentic, vivid original content for distribution and sharing via overseas social media platforms. At the "Lens Echoes · Impressions of Sanya" exchange event held on the evening of June 26, influencers and travel agents took to the stage one after another to display the stunning footage they captured in Sanya and share their unforgettable memories of the city.

Vincenzo Francesco Calabrese, an Italian travel social media influencer, commented: "This trip to Sanya will be an unforgettable experience for me. The city boasts breathtaking scenery, genuine folk culture and countless distinctive delicacies, with every experience full of surprises. I hope more European tourists will travel to Sanya and experience its unique charm in person."

Meanwhile, Sanya Tourism Board joined hands with The European Travel Commission to carry out a series of online interactive activities under the China-Europe Urban Cultural Dialogue banner. This marks the first bespoke official cooperation between The European Travel Commission — Europe’s top cultural and tourism authority — and a standalone tourist destination in China. Capitalising on the hosting of the FIA Formula E World Championship in Sanya, the two sides conducted multi-dimensional cultural exchanges and enabled two-way output of cultural and tourism content, delivering robust authoritative endorsement for Sanya’s international branding development.

Building on this event, Sanya has partnered with local travel agencies to launch exclusive preferential offers for European markets, further lowering travel thresholds for European visitors and boosting two-way tourist flows between the two regions. This forms a complete closed-loop operation covering brand exposure, cultural exchange, product rollout and inbound visitor growth. Market statistics attest to remarkable results: 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, reflecting accelerated recovery and robust growth momentum for Sanya’s European tourism market.

From proactively "Going Out" to attend global expositions, forge international partnerships and roll out invitation schemes at the start of the year, to successfully "Inviting In" overseas industry practitioners and influencers for immersive on-site tours and joint content creation, Sanya has established a mature three-pronged overseas market expansion strategy integrating content, routes and products. Leveraging the policy dividends of Hainan Free Trade Port and the operational benefits brought by the Seventh Air Freedom, Sanya continues to refine its global tourism cooperation network and deepen pragmatic collaboration with Central, Eastern European and Central Asian countries covering air route expansion, tourism product development, cultural tourism exchanges and channel sharing, driving the transformation and upgrading of local tourism toward in-depth resort experiences and diversified repeat visits.

A representative from the Sanya Tourism Board stated: "Sanya will maintain the regular operation of the dual 'Going Out – Inviting In' model, consolidate the outcomes of China-Europe cultural tourism cooperation achieved through this programme, and continuously expand its global cultural tourism partner network. Taking cultural tourism as a bridge, we will deepen non-governmental exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between China and foreign countries, and further burnish Sanya’s brand as an internationally renowned tropical coastal tourist destination."

Dao Zhou
Beijing Interlace cultural communication company limited
zhou.dao@interlace.cn

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