Later this year, they'll have a new destination to visit: Atlantis Sanya, the $1.6 billion hotel and waterpark resort.

The resort is similar to Atlantis The Palm in Dubai, with its own splashy adventures planned to spread across a 62-hectare site. The centerpiece of the resort is a five-star hotel with parallel towers shaped like matching palm fronds that curve into ovals reaching their tips. With a modern and minimalist aesthetic, the towers will be wrapped in safe, durable aluminium to achieve the perfect profile and sightlines.

All told, the Atlantis Sanya will offer 1,300 guest rooms, all part of a larger tourism development plan designed to attract 20 million visitors per year by 2018. That number currently stands at 16 million but is expected to rise as discretionary spending among Chinese – and for that matter, foreign guests too – drives their taste for a holiday experience with world-class restaurants, spas, and other amenities.

Russell Stokes, Vice President of Aquaventure Operations at Atlantis Sanya, says the park will serve as a different kind of destination when compared with existing attractions like temples and rain forests. The main hotel tower is at the heart of the project, but it is surrounded by lagoons, fresh and salt water pools, an interactive dolphin experience and education center, and similar marine life exhibits. They include the "Lost Chambers Aquarium," planned as a two-story facility that features 34 exotic habitats.

Lush gardens and an extensive beach line complete the natural setting for those seeking a respite and oasis. Yet the Aquaventure water park rides also promise to be spectacular, with some of the biggest names in the business working to engineer and build the attractions. ProSlide, a global water park planner and slide manufacturer, is designing the Atlantis Sanya rides, while Murphys Waves is hard at work to deliver the wave machines.

In what Stokes thinks is a first for China, the park will feature both a full Torrent and a Typhoon River. The latter promises an exhilarating oversized inner-tube course for family fun, while the Torrent creates high-volume wave releases. The park plans safe splasher pools for small children to enjoy, but for the more daring there will be the signature "Leap of Faith" slide that moves fast through a real shark tank.

The Atlantis Sanya hotel also is surrounded by bars, lounges and nightlife in the tropical setting, as well as on-site boutique shopping. Although there's no sign of a golf course on the grounds, there are plenty on Hainan Island as developers seek to advance its reputation as the "Hawaiian paradise" of China. There are now more than a dozen top courses catering to both elite golfers and newcomers to the sport.

So given its prestigious provenance, its smart and sustainable construction choices and a sweeping array of attractions and activities, the Atlantis Sanya is set up for success. Chinese officials who have invested in Hainan Island's infrastructure in order to support investment on the island expect to reap the benefits when the new Atlantis opens later this year.