Tourists visit Sanya Paddy Field National Park. [Photo by Wu Wei/Hainan Daily]

Hainan province recently issued a tourism annual pass offering unlimited visits to 16 scenic spots on the island within a year.

The first 5,000 passes have been sold out at a preferential price of 168 yuan ($25.06) and the price has been restored to 198 yuan.

The scenic spots include the Nanwan Monkey Island, the Hainan Binglanggu (Betelnut Valley) Li and Miao Cultural Heritage Park, the Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone, and Sanya Dongtian Park.

According to Zhou Bihui, executive director of Hainan Changxingyou Tourism Management Co Ltd, the annual pass not only ensures reasonable profits from ticket sales for the scenic spots, but also provides tangible benefits to local residents. It creates a virtuous cycle between people traveling to the scenic spots and local residents by creating more secondary consumption of local businesses from visiting tourists.

Zhou said that more tourist attractions will be encompassed in the annual pass after it is put into formal use on May 1.

Aerial view of Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden [Photo by Su Xiaojie/Hainan Daily]