First Tourism Plus Shanghai expo set to kick off

Tourism Plus Shanghai, a comprehensive tourism industry expo, will kick off in late March, blending tourism, catering and lifestyle industries, the city's cultural and tourism authorities said on Thursday.

A first of its kind in the city, the annual event will comprise two expos, an exhibition and a show, covering more than 600,000 square meters across three venues, and bring together more than 5,000 exhibitors.

Of these, Hotelex Shanghai — from March 29 to April 1 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) — will display everything about food, from ice cream equipment, wine, baking materials and kitchenware to hotpot food materials, catering design, coffee and tea, and food packaging.

Between March 30 and April 2, Hotel & Shop Plus will showcase hotel furniture, products, decoration, project design, epidemic prevention and disinfection solutions for the hospitality industry and other sophisticated technologies at the Shanghai New International Expo Center.

A tourism exhibition featuring immersive tourism scenes and a lifestyle show gathering about 600 exhibitors from the luxury yacht, recreational vehicle camping, minsu (Chinese version of B&B), fishing and water sports fields are also part of the event.

Both will be held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center from April 1 to 3.

About 100 forums and summits and 29 professional and international competitions such as Chinese cuisine cooking and canoeing will enrich visitors' experience.

The event is estimated to attract 400,000 visits in total.

Tourism Plus Shanghai is a grand tourism industry event combining tourism products, hotel and commercial spaces, tourism facilities, catering facilities and food culture, transportation and outdoor activities, international competitions and forums, according to Cheng Meihong, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism.

"As one of the three priority tourism events in the city between 2021 and 2025, it covers every aspect of the tourism industry chain and will boost economic circulation of domestic tourism," she said.

With the coronavirus pandemic waning, the expo caters to the higher-level leisure and tourism demand of people, creates an exchange platform for tourism businesses, and is expected to further spur tourism recovery, Cheng said.