Mixed reviews for local tourist attractions' digital services

The Shanghai Consumer Council on Tuesday criticized the Shanghai Railway Museum in Jing'an District for having the worst "intelligent" services for tourists out of 50 cultural and tourist attractions in the city.

The council conducted an investigation at 50 cultural venues and scenic spots across the city regarding their digital services. The average score in last year's investigation was 88.16. The assessment covers basic information, online services and digital scenes. 

Shanghai's cultural venues and tourist attractions have generally enhanced their digital service offerings, reflected in the increase of the average score in 2020 over 2019's average of 80.81.

The digital service performance of parks ranked first, followed by amusement parks, museums and ancient towns.

The Shanghai Railway Museum doesn't have a website, WeChat account or an app, so it scored zero.

The railway museum, however, wasn't the only attraction in the city to come up short.

Shanghai Daguanyuan (Grandview Garden) was singled out for failing to update activities on its website, while Shanghai Zoo's app can only be downloaded by Apple smartphones. 

Although Shanghai Guanfu Museum provides information about tickets on its website, they can only be purchased via WeChat.

Among attractions praised by the consumer council were Zuibaichi Park, which provides 360-degree panoramic views online, and the World Expo Museum, offering barrier-free guidance for blind people on its WeChat mini program. 

Thirty-four attractions, including Shanghai Happy Valley and Shanghai Aurora Museum, have applied new technologies such as virtual reality to serve tourists.

The digital approach is key to promote the upgrade of tourist attractions, as well as integrating culture, business and tourism, said Tang Jiansheng, the council's deputy secretary general.