Nearly 2 Million Global Visits in Half a Year: Sanya’s Overseas Official Website Wins TopDigital Innovation Marketing Award, Winning the World’s Heart
The results of the 14th TopDigital Innovation Marketing Awards were announced recently. Widely regarded as a bellwether for innovation in digital marketing, the competition saw the Sanya Municipal Tourism Development Bureau’s overseas tourism website (visitsanya.com) stand out among a large field of entries with its “Overseas Tourism Website Relaunch” project, taking home the Silver Award for Innovation Marketing.
Established in 2013, the TopDigital Innovation Marketing Awards are among the most respected honors in China’s digital marketing industry. This year’s entries spanned brand design, digital marketing and creative communications.
Nearly 2 million visits from around the world — that’s the report card visitsanya.com has turned in after just six months online. Behind the numbers lie visitors from 180 countries and regions, each leaving behind “proof of a spark” on the digital gateway to a tropical island.
It takes just five seconds
to make the world fall for Sanya
The instant visitsanya.com loads, visitors are greeted by a wave video: sunlight piercing through droplets of water, palm leaves swaying gently in the breeze, coral-orange light spilling across the sea.
Alongside this, the new visitsanya.com introduces a brand-new “Rhythm Trilogy”:
2️⃣ Rhythm of Style: hotels, duty-free shopping, coffee, music, nightlife
3️⃣ Rhythm of Delicacy: seafood, tropical fruit, night markets, dining
The “Rhythm Trilogy” reframes Sanya — not as “one island,” but as “three ways of life to be lived.”
Eight languages for seven countries, plus an AI-powered guide
making every word land
visitsanya.com has upgraded its language system from basic coverage in four languages to focused, fine-grained reach across “eight languages for seven key markets,” backed by an engineered “translate-then-localize” process:
Eight languages for seven countries: English, Русский (Russian), 日本語 (Japanese), 한국어 (Korean), แบบไทย (Thai), Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese — each one adapted to local context, not simply translated word for word.
Backend content linking: the same topic is connected across language versions, cutting down on duplicate maintenance.
Shared template system: visuals, sections and interactions stay consistent, so all language versions share one unified brand identity.
Localization review: content is checked against context, keywords and travel-specific phrasing to avoid the misunderstandings that literal translation can cause.
Beyond translation, Sanya has also connected the site to a “multilingual smart guide available around the clock — Yebao.” It upgrades the website from static content on display to a travel assistant ready to answer questions at any time — from “looking things up” to “getting an answer.” Visitors simply ask in natural language, and Yebao draws on the website’s knowledge base to offer practical advice on visas, transportation, activities and accommodation.
A steady stream of content all year round
extending Sanya’s invitation to the world
Behind all of this is a content operation delivering “168 articles a year” — a steady output of 14 original pieces a month, keeping the site constantly refreshed, built around four content pillars.
Destinations builds the brand perception that “Sanya equals many ways to play” — from in-depth bay guides and island-to-island comparisons to seasonal destination picks — so that from the moment users arrive, they sense Sanya offers “more than one way in.”
Events creates a sense of urgency around “going to Sanya right now” — music festivals, sporting events and exhibition calendars, paired with limited-time holiday experiences and offers, replacing “what happened” with “what’s happening.”
Experiences replaces listicles with storytelling — locals’ hidden routes, beginner’s guides to watersports, hotel reviews — each piece not a sightseeing brochure but a real account of “here’s how you could spend your time in Sanya.”
Planning covers the last mile from “inspired” to “planned” — how to get a visa, what to pay with, how to get around, what to pack, how to budget — turning “I want to go” into “I can go.”
Sanya is moving from “China’s vacation calling card”
toward becoming an “international tropical coastal destination”
As of July 2026, visitsanya.com has logged nearly 2 million visits worldwide, reaching 581.6% of its annual target — with the Russia region alone hitting 195.6% of target. Organic search traffic has grown 18.49%, and the number of indexed keywords has jumped from 281 to 331.
“Sanya” now ranks first on Google search, the keyword “sanya china” has climbed from 19th to 2nd place, and the site has been cited by ChatGPT on 286 pages.
Even more notable is the shift in how users arrive: direct traffic has risen to 44.83%, while paid search has fallen to 25.86% — a sign that brand awareness and organic appeal are becoming the primary drivers of traffic. The site’s users now span more than 180 countries and regions worldwide, with Russia rising to become the largest overseas market by browsing volume — Sanya is moving from a “China vacation calling card” toward becoming an “international tropical coastal destination.”
As international flight routes bring the world closer
and cross-border payments remove the barriers,
this “digital window” that Sanya is carefully polishing
lets guests from afar
arrive in Sanya before they’ve even set off.
A website that tells a city’s story in the world’s languages
is solving a question that comes even earlier:
being known, being understood, being chosen.