Shanghai Tourism Festival boosts city-wide tourism revenue
A walking tour during the festival
The annual Shanghai Tourism Festival running from September 17 to October 6 this year has yielded fruitful results and boosted the city's tourism market, cultural and tourism authorities said on Wednesday.
Tourist attractions across Shanghai recorded 16.23 million visits during this year's Shanghai Tourism Festival, according to the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism.
The average occupancy rate of hotels in the city hit 55 percent during the festival, up 14 percent from the same period a month earlier.
The city's tourism, catering, and amusement revenue reached 36.08 billion yuan (US$5.59 billion) during the festival, growing 8.7 percent from a month earlier.
This year's festival, in its 32nd edition, has witnessed many changes.
The festival's duration has been cut and big offline activities, such as the opening ceremony, were canceled to avoid large gatherings.
Readable architecture and walking tours are the themes of this year's festival for the first time.
A large number of offline activities were replaced by online events amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This year's festival provides new resources, experiences, and touring methods for residents and tourists," said Fang Shizhong, director of the administration.
A.walking tour during the festival
Beautiful Suzhou Creek
A variety of activities centering on the city's architecture were launched during the festival, covering live-streaming events, route recommendations, walking tours, architecture-themed souvenirs, voting for classic Shanghai architecture and bus trips.
Shanghai's first shuttle bus taking people to experience the glamour of the city's classic architecture was launched during the festival.
The bus service has five stops – the May 30th Movement Monument, Waibaidu Bridge, City God Temple, the Jinling Road E. Dock and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
It carried 11,000 passengers in total during the festival.
A WeChat mini-program focusing on all aspects of the city's architecture recorded 38,000 visits during the festival, and more than 40 million votes were cast in an architecture selection.
Activities inviting the public to explore good visiting places in their vicinity were warmly received as well.
"Public involvement is a feature of this year's festival, which has become a platform to display Shanghai's splendor," said Shen Chao, director of the administration's large-scale event department.
The festival has boosted the city's tourism popularity, Shanghai-based online travel operator Trip.com revealed.
During the festival, the city's popularity index as a tourist destination surged 64 percent from the same period in 2019, and bookings of night tours in the city soared 50 percent from the same period in 2019, according to the travel operator.
