The marketing spin has been that Hainan Island is the “Hawaii of China” but up until the past 12 months the reality has not quite matched the hype.

Times, though, are fast changing on China’s southernmost territory with the local government this year adding duty-free shopping and opening up its pristine waters to the international yachting community in an effort to lure more tourists to the island.

Hainan, which boasts a tropical climate, is also undergoing a resort-building boom with the Hilton and Marriott chains already this year becoming the latest to develop sites on the island which only saw its first “international-style” resort built in 1999.

If you’re planning a wedding on the high seas, some options are better than others, according to one cruise specialist.

Miami-based cruise company Landry & Kling released its top ten ships for group events and business meetings this week, naming vessels from a variety of lines for the suitability of hosting a special event.

The travel agency, which specializes in organizing large events at sea ranging from business meetings to theme cruises and reunions, picked ships with between 56 and 2,700 cabins, including the enormous Allure of the Seas.

The World Travel Awards, an organization tasked with selecting some of the world’s best travel experiences, has launched a luxury magazine to share its knowledge.

The organization officially launched this week’s Best in Travel online and as an Android app March 24, focusing on “the world’s most glamorous travel experiences.”

Unlike competitors such as Conde Nast Traveler and Wanderlust, it won’t be available on newsstands — the publisher says it reflects a shift from print to web as a source of travel information — but that’s led to some compelling features.

Princess Cruises gave fans a sneak preview of its new ship March 15, revealing some interesting new features which will debut when it sets sail in 2013.

The Royal Princess weighs in at 141,000 tons and can carry 3,600 passengers, making her slightly bigger than this year’s major debuts, the Disney Dream, Carnival Magic and Celebrity Silhouette.

Among the highlights for passengers is likely to be the SeaWalk, an over-water enclosed walkway on the ship’s starboard side which extends more than 28 feet (8.5 meters) beyond the edge of the vessel.

The world’s greenest airlines have been named at the ITB Berlin travel show, with European carrier Monarch topping the list.

The study of airline efficiency was conducted by Atmosfair, a carbon offsetting company, and looked into factors such as how efficient an airline’s fleet was and how full its planes normally fly.

Monarch, a charter and scheduled airline operating predominantly from the UK, was judged the world’s most efficient airline, with Atmosfair praising its efficient aircraft and high seating density.

Delta Air Lines has been voted the world’s most admired airline by Fortune magazine, managing to push Singapore Airlines into second place.

The award means that Delta came out top in a string of assessments including social responsibility and quality of product, as well as business-related criteria such as quality of management and global competitiveness.

Delta has moved steadily up the ranks over the past four years to reach top spot, which was awarded to Singapore Airlines last year — the airline’s boss Richard Anderson described the award as a “remarkable achievement” in a note to staff.