The tropical landscape, flourishing mangroves and delicious local food in Sanya, at the southern tip of the island province of Hainan, left sweet memories to George Liu and his family from Hong Kong during a recent cruise tour.

"We enjoyed the stay in Sanya and may invite our friends to visit the beautiful vacation resort again some day," said Liu.

Liu and his family were among the 3,009 walk-in tourists to partake in Dream Cruises, under Hong Kong Star Cruises. It has the largest cruise liner in Asia with a tonnage of 150,695 and is 335.35 meters in length. The liner stopped at the 10-year-old Sanya Phoenix Island International Cruise Terminal earlier this month.

This is the first time that Sanya, one of China's largest cruise ports, received an international cruise with walk-in tourists.

It also marks the first time the city sent cruises tourists to destinations via sea buses to offer visitors new experiences.

"The Sanya Phoenix Island International Cruise Terminal will be able to harbor five to seven cruises and receive 2 million tourists annually, one of the largest in Asia, when its second-phase expansion is completed," said Cai Chaohui, deputy manager of the port's business center.

The State Council, China's cabinet, and the Hainan provincial authorities have issued a number of policies to promote cruise tourism in Hainan, a move to push development of new tourism models and products.