Tourists to islands grow over 20% annually: report

HANGZHOU - Tourists to island destinations grow by 20 percent annually, according to a report issued on Tuesday at the 2015 International Islands Tourism Conference.

The report by Hong Kong Polytechnic University showed that there are over 70 mature island destinations in 50 countries globally. In 2014, over 40 percent of the island resorts saw the tourism income contributed more than 20 percent to their GDP growth.

The report also selected Hawaii, Bali, the Maldives, Phuket, Santorini, Samui, Mauritius, Jeju, Tahiti and Seychelles as the ten most popular island spots worldwide in 2014 based on recommendation from international mainstream tourism media.

China's outbound tourists made nearly 24 million trips to islands in 2014, and the number is expected to exceed 30 million this year.

The conference is organized by China's National Tourism Administration and the provincial government of Zhejiang.