According to figures released by Hainan Provincial Tourism Bureau, China's tropical island province saw the number of entry overnight tourists rise by 15.7% year on year 342,500 in the first half of 2010.

In the first six months of 2010, the island received 241,700 international overnight tourists, up 19.8% year on year. International tourists remained as the top entry tourist source for the island, accounting for 70.6% of the total entry overnight tourists.

The number of overnight tourists from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan increased 6.8% year on year to 100,800 in the first half, accounting for 29.4% of the total.

Figures from the bureau showed that the total number of overnight tourists from home and abroad climbed 15.1% year on year to 13.24 million in the first half of this year, despite the dampening influence of the traditional off-season and competition from the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

The island's first-half tourism revenues totaled 13.89 billion, up 29.2% year on year.