NEWS

Affected by the global new COVID-19, Chinese consumers who used to dive abroad have returned to Hainan Island.

Diving can be divided into experiential diving and certified (or certified) professional diving. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19, this niche sport maintained rapid growth in China. According to statistics from the International Association of Professional Diving Instructors (PADI), the annual growth rate of Chinese diving certification in 2018 was 8 times the global average growth rate. Diving tourism destinations in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc. have undertaken most of the Chinese diving consumers.

Travelling abroad was blocked due to COVID-19, and the divers turned their sights on Hainan Island, a tropical island in southern China. In Hainan, people can dive into the underwater world for about 30 minutes of experience diving  accompany by an instructor for 400-500 yuan.

In Lingshui Jiezhou Island, the Labor Holiday is to serve the greatly increased number of experience customers, and all the diving instructors are on duty; if you want to participate in professional diving training courses, you need to make an appointment one week in advance. In late May, an underwater photography competition held on Wuzhizhou Island in Sanya attracted almost all active photographers in China's domestic water photography circle.

"In response to the changes brought about by the epidemic, we encourage everyone to learn the theory in the place of residence, and then go to the island resort destination to complete the open water course." Yan Xuelei, the person in charge of a diving school, said that after the epidemic, the number of domestic certified personnel, including free diving, has increased by nearly 300%, and the locations are mostly in coastal areas such as Hainan, Guangdong, and Guangxi.

Under such circumstances,  PADI signed a contract with Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City in April this year, planning to open a diving training base in Sanya, and strive for the PADI China headquarters to settle in Hainan within this year .