The coastal town of Boao in eastern China's Hainan province can now be reached via plane as a new airport starts operation. 

During the annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) held in Boao, Hainan province deputy governor Mao Chaofeng boasted that the conference's attendees were able to fly to the town for the first time. 

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"This year's forum is a little bit different from previous years. Many participants of the forum and media representatives had the chance to take a direct flight to Boao Airport, which was still an area of waste ground this time last year," Mao said on the sidelines of the conference. 

The Boao Airport commenced operations on March 17, reinforcing the province's goal to make the island a global tourism destination by 2020. It was designed to serve 480,000 passengers and handle 1,440 metric tons of cargo in four years. 

"In 2015, we had 19 airlines connecting to 11 countries. This year, we will keep up our efforts and do our best to connect to all major source countries of Hainan's inbound tourism," said Sun Ying, head of the Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Commission. 

The province is facing some tough competition in the form of luxurious resorts in neighboring Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. 

"Hainan is as good as or even better than surrounding islands when talking about scenery and the ecosystem," Sun said. 

This year's Government Work Report for Hainan outlined the province's plans to develop and improve airports in Haikou and Sanya, and build another airport in Danzhou within the next three years. 

According to the province's 13th Five Year-Plan (2016-2020), Hainan is expecting more than 80 million tourists by 2020, with 1.2 million international tourists. The total tourism revenue is expected to hit ¥100 billion ($15.2 billion) by the end of the decade. 

Sun admitted that apart from infrastructure, more flights should be added to ease future tourists' travels. 

"However, the province needs to increase direct flights to other countries and further promote the visa-free policies to boost its tourism development."

TagsBeijing, Boao Airport, Boao forum, BFA, Boao Forum for Asia, annual conference, Hainan province, Hainan airport, new airport in China, infrastructure airports in China, Mao Chaofeng, China Tourism, Sun Ying