Hainan's 59-country visa-free policy has driven a tourism boom since it was introduced seven years ago, with 1.42 million foreign travelers entering visa-free, according to Rao Jun, deputy director of the exit-entry border inspection department at the Haikou General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection.

The island province has recorded 889,000 inbound and outbound travelers this year, up 16.1 percent year-on-year. Foreign arrivals jumped 62.5 percent, with visa-free entries making up 90.3 percent of the total.

Statistics released by the station showed that about 84 percent of foreign visitors came for tourism, while business, sports, and exhibition-related travel surged by nearly 95 percent.