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Boao Forum for Asia Sparks Off Tourism Boom
The Forum for Asia, which opened February 27, has turned the small town of Boao on the island province of Hainan into a popular tourist destination.
Boao Asia Forum was initiated in 1998 by former Prime Minister of Australia Robert James Lee Hawke, former President of the Philippines Fidel Ramos, and former Prime Minister of Japan Hosokawa Morihiro.
It is an unofficial, non-profitable, open and regular international conference organization that serves as a platform for high-level dialogue where representatives of Asian countries discuss issues concerning regional economic development, population and the environment in Asia.
In the first six days of this month, 20,000 people headed for the shores of Boao, now the permanent venue of the forum.
Some local travel agencies made the most of the opportunity and offered day-long or two-day tours to Boao, which sits at the estuary of three local rivers and is under jurisdiction of Qionghai City. Another travel agency from neighboring Guangdong Province is also hawking luxury tours to Boao in cooperation with a Hainan tour agency.
Sources from China Travel Service in Haikou, the provincial capital, said they had organized full-length Boao tours for some 2,000 people, while another 3,000 people have registered with the agency for the shorter jaunts. Tour groups arranged prior to the forum added Boao to their original travel itineraries.
But not everyone in this formerly quiet village has greeted this sudden boom in tourism with enthusiasm.
The number of tourists and motor vehicles to the inauguration venue of forum and a five-star hotel specially built for the forum is strictly controlled.
He Yingwei, vice general manager of Boao Investment Holding Co. Ltd., the developer of many conference centers used by the forum, explained since those places do not have the capacity to accommodate large groups of tourists at present, a registration tour groups in advance is needed in order to prevent disorder in the wake of a sudden flow of tourists into Boao.
Wang Wenjin, vice mayor of Qionghai City, convened an emergency meeting of officials from such departments as public security, transport and tourism to make arrangements for issues such as transportation management and management of street vendors.
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