MyTravel to offer tours to Madame Mao’s holiday spot

Affluent Chinese holidaymakers on the country's tropical southern tip should prepare themselves for a cultural revolution - the arrival of the British package tourist in search of sand, sea and sunburn.

The travel group MyTravel is to become the first mass-market holiday company to offer beach holidays to China, selling two-week trips to the palm-fringed island of Hainan, a former dumping ground for banished political dissidents.

Sold through MyTravel's Airtours brand, which is better known for Spain, Greece and Florida, the holidays are an attempt to capitalise on an increasingly ambitious spirit among older holidaymakers who want to relax by the pool in unusual surroundings.

Airtours' managing director, Steve Barrass, described Hainan as the Hawaii of the Orient: "It's on the same latitude, the beaches are as white and golden and the sea is as blue as it is in Hawaii."

Flights will leave fortnightly from Manchester and Gatwick on a Boeing 767 carrying around 300 passengers on a 15-hour journey via Bahrain. The holidays will be based in Hainan's beach resort of Sanya, with optional overnight trips to Beijing, Shanghai and the home of the terracotta army, Xian. Airtours resort representatives with knowledge of Mandarin will be on hand. Mr Barrass said: "This is for the more adventurous holidaymaker who wants a bit of hand-holding because they've got a few concerns about China." The package will cost £1,239 per person.

Mr Barrass said some of the typical sunseeker activities would be unavailable: "As far as showing Chelsea on a big screen and eating roast beef on a Sunday, I don't know if it will appeal to that market."

China has rocketed in popularity among British travellers, although most are backpackers or on luxury tours. According to the Association of British Travel Agents, the number of British visitors to China rose from 61,000 in 1996 to 212,000 in 2004.

An ABTA spokesman, Sean Tipton, said tour operators were increasingly keen on emerging markets: "If you go back 20 years, Cuba, the Dominican Republic or Cancun would all have been regarded as very exotic, but they're all now mass market."

China is little known for its beaches but Sanya is a local favourite. The Lonely Planet guide describes "golden beaches, the promise of a deep tan and the thud of falling coconuts". In Imperial times, Hainan island was used as a detention centre for exiles. It later became a regular winter destination for Chairman Mao's fourth wife, Jiang Qing.