China is scheduled to allow tourists to visit the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea ahead of the forthcoming May Day holiday, Tan Li, executive vice governor of the southern-most province of Hainan, said Saturday.

People will be allowed to visit the islands on cruise tours, said Tan at the 2013 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, which opened Sunday.

Details of the tour routes, capacity of tourist reception and cruise ships will be released at a later date, he said.

The Xisha Islands are a cluster of close to 40 islets, sandbanks and reefs.

Tourists will eat and sleep on the cruise ships and will be able to land on the islands for sightseeing, the official said.

Cruise tours were chosen because hotels and other facilities to accommodate tourists are inadequate, he said.

There is only one hotel with 56 rooms in the 2.13-square-kilometer Yongxing Island, the largest island among the Xisha Islands group and home to the government offices of Sansha city. In addition, there is no fresh water and all supplies have to be brought in from outside the island.

The city was established last summer to administer the more than 200 islets, sandbanks and reefs in the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and 2 million square kilometers of surrounding waters.

A cruise ship with a gross registered tonnage of 47,000 tons that can accommodate 1,965 passengers is ready to sail, according to the ship owner, the Haihang Group.

Meanwhile, the Hainan Harbor and Shipping Holdings Co. is building another one.

"The tour prices will be relatively high due to the high costs of tourism infrastructure construction," said Huang Huaru, the general manager of a tourism agency in Hainan.

However, experts said Sansha could only receive a small number of visitors due to the fragile environment there.

Tan said local authorities will build more supply ships and ports as well as water supply and sewage treatment facilities to improve infrastructure in the Sansha area.

Meanwhile, authorities will also beef up ecological protection to protect island and marine resources and preserve the local biodiversity, he said.

Xinhua