More Chinese tourists are spending vacations by the sea, with Sanya leading the domestic market, Li Wenfang reports.

Yu Yong, a businessman in his 40s and working in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, enjoys spending his vacations by the seaside with his family.

He has traveled to "almost all the islands in Southeast Asia," and some islands in coastal Fujian and Guangdong provinces in the country.

"I don't like sightseeing. I just want to shift to another environment for a while and relax, swim or lay on the beach-take a sunbath and have some drinks."

Seaside vacations have become a top choice for more and more Chinese travelers, as they are no longer satisfied with hurried sightseeing and seek more specialty and leisure experiences, according to a report by Ctrip, a major Chinese online travel agency.

Ctrip's clients for such holidays grew by 15 and 21 percent annually in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Domestic seaside resorts, thanks to their proximity and accessibility to consumers, make for good options.

According to the company, bookings to Sanya, in the tropical island of Hainan province, increased by 30 percent in 2018, with the resort being favored by those escaping the cold weather or the bad-air days in the north.

This year's top 10 domestic seaside destinations were Sanya, Xiamen, Qingdao, Zhoushan, Haikou, Qinhuangdao, Zhuhai, Dalian, Ningbo and Beihai.

The top 10 cities producing seaside travelers were Shanghai, Beijing, Sanya, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Wuhan.

Although they may not be as globally well-known as the Maldives or Bali, Indonesia, the islands in China enjoy tremendous potential for tourism, according to experts.

More than 11,000 islands dot the country's territory, mostly located in the provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong in the east and the south, according to China's State Oceanic Administration.

Natural attractions and cultural sites officially recognized on those islands, excluding islands in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao and the provincial island of Hainan, totaled 1,028 and 775, respectively, at the end of 2017, with 72 beach resorts operating, according to Qianzhan Industry Research Institute.

These islands received 98.36 million travelers and generated an added value of 89.7 billion yuan ($13.02 billion) from tourism in 2017, said Mu Xiaofei, a researcher with Shenzhen-based Qianzhan Industry Research Institute.

Investment in island tourism has kept increasing and with supportive policies, improving infrastructure and competitive pricing, this sector has strong growth potential, Mu says.

The policies include the national 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), which calls for innovation in market-oriented distribution of resources related to sea and islands. There are also 13th Five-Year Plan policies for the tourism sector, which encourages investment in island tourism, and policies for turning Pingtan in Fujian province and Hainan into international tourist destinations.

Added-value from island tourism in the country is on track for an average 20 percent-plus annual growth to stand at about 220 billion yuan in 2023, Mu says.

Yu Yong from Shenzhen, however, plans to travel to Bohol Island in the Philippines in January. He prefers a Southeast Asian island for his vacation, because of the availability of flights from his city, the well-established facilities and management of the resorts there and that it is a longer-distance retreat from his daily life.

Though they have competitive natural beauty, many Chinese islands lag behind internationally famous foreign islands in areas like transport, hotels, entertainment, services, awareness among consumers and experience in activities, Mu adds.

The inhabited islands in China, for which local governments hold the responsibility, have undergone rapid development, Lin Dong, founder of China Private Islands Alliance, says.

The uninhabited islands, which are managed by oceanic administrations, and came under more stringent protection since late 2009, should pursue a path of specialty tourism, Lin says.

Most of the islands in China are located in subtropical and temperate zones, which makes tourism there more seasonal and return on related investment slower.

Island tourism holds substantial potential in China, but-with the exception of islands in Hainan-the present facilities need to be upgraded and the sophisticated planning necessary for the islands has yet to be developed, Huang Huang, a researcher with China Tourism Academy, says.

On some islands with a sizable local population, activities are limited to fishing-village experiences, seafood and inexpensive accommodation that are operated mostly by local households, Huang says, adding that the facilities on those islands need to be upgraded.

Most of the undeveloped islands, which are blessed with picturesque scenery, can be turned into tourism destinations, but a change in policies is necessary. A balance between ecological protection and tourism development, for example, should, and can, be achieved.

Huang, however, suggests specialty tourism facilities, instead of massive tourism projects, be built on many of those islands, to avoid harmful encroachment on local ecology.

High-end plans are crucial in developing the islands so that they can offer specialty activities such as a port of call for cruises, a wellness center, a place for outdoor activities, or a base for scientific study and research.

However, return on investment on tourism facilities takes a relatively long time, and many domestic investors are inclined to seek quick returns by turning tourism projects into real estate developments. This approach should be avoided, Huang says.