Shanghai cooks up a summer treat to spur dining spending

Fine dining restaurants, specialty dishes, a food bazaar and theme boat tours are on offer for both locals and travelers to enjoy their leisure time during the summer.

The "Savor Shanghai: Exquisite Haipai Food Festival" kicked off on Tuesday night, offering various discounts, combo packages with tourist tickets, and leisure activities to encourage dining spending.

As a part of the "Shanghai Summer" International Consumption Season, special discounts and set menus for night-time dining will also be offered by more than 1,000 local restaurants.

Six flagship food and gourmet campaigns at both the city and district level are to be staged in the second half this year to fully leverage tourism and leisure activities to spur dining spending.

Olympic-themed boat tours were also unveiled over the weekend in Putuo District, allowing tourists to enjoy gourmet food and watch games while riding on the Suzhou Creek.

Local restaurant chain operators, including time-honored local canteen Da Fugui and western-style diner Blue Frog, will also fully leverage online and offline resources to offer discounts and special summer items for dine-in and takeaways during the Olympic month. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games kicked off on July 26 and will run through August 11.

Zhang Guohua, Shanghai Commerce Commission deputy director, said that the total number of food and beverage stores in the city added about 1,100 in the first half, signaling strong vibrancy with investors making continuous efforts to cater to consumer demand.

"The integration of dining and a wide range of leisure activities and tourism scenes has become a new consumption-driven format," he noted.

Jing'an District's canteen week will be held from August to December with subsidies targeting gourmet lovers.

Shanghai had over 1,000 fine dining restaurants by the end of the first half this year, consolidating its position as the highest ranking city in the country, according to a latest listing by Meituan, and consumers are paying more attention to the dining environment and service.

Meituan also released a gourmet map that includes both local specialty dishes and western-style dining options.

Earlier this month, an action plan was launched in the city to encourage new store openings from leading chain restaurant operators, and one-off subsidy for new outlets set up at tourist attractions, public transportation hubs or major sports venues.