Exciting tourism programs on their way, say authorities

Shanghai will usher in a series of exciting tourism programs over the next few years, authorities said on Wednesday.

The announcement came at the 4th Shanghai Tourism Investment Promotion Conference at Legoland Shanghai Resort in Jinshan District on Wednesday. The event highlighted major cultural and tourism investment opportunities in the city.

The conference saw the launch of the 2025 Shanghai cultural and tourism investment blueprint, incorporating 10 landmark projects, 10 billion yuan (US$1.39 billion) in annual cultural and tourism investment, and 10 million square meters of investment space.

The inbound tourism market in Shanghai has shown a trend of accelerated development in recent years.

In 2024, Shanghai recorded 6.7059 million visits by inbound tourists, a year-on-year increase of 84 percent. In the first quarter of this year, it continued to maintain a relatively fast growth rate, receiving more than 1.7 million visits, a year-on-year increase of 37 percent, as it aims to build China's first stop for inbound tourism.

This year, 10 new landmark tourism programs, including Legoland Shanghai Resort, West Bund International Convention and Exhibition Center, Hongqiao Showay Arena and Shanghai Grand Opera House will open to the public.

The West Bund International Convention and Exhibition Center is in the core area of Shanghai's West Bund.

A comprehensive cultural venue with seven above-ground floors and two underground floors, and a total construction area of 77,000 square meters, the West Bund International Convention and Exhibition Center can accommodate international conferences with a scale of 3,000 people.

Its design is inspired by the cut surface of a diamond, and the modeling technique of the facade makes the building as bright and dazzling as a gem.

As the first international family theme park in the Yangtze River Delta region, Legoland Shanghai Resort set to open on July 5 is the ultimate Lego theme park and hotel destination for children aged between two and 12 and their families.

It features over 75 interactive rides, shows and attractions as well as thousands of Lego models crafted with more than 85 million Lego bricks across eight immersive "lands," that allow visitors' imagination and creativity to run wild.

"In Shanghai the exceptional business ecosystem, bolstered by enhanced high-level opening-up policies and robust consumer demand, presents ample opportunities and conveniences for our operations in China," said Siegfried Boerst, regional managing director, Legoland China Resorts and Management Services. "China represents a key pillar of Merlin Entertainments growth strategy and we are committed to China market."

Located within the Shanghai Expo Culture Park, Shanghai Grand Opera House has a massive white staircase that spirals upwards and reaches into the sky, suggesting an "unfolding Chinese fan."

With a total floor area of 146,000 square meters, it contains a large hall with 2,000 seats, a medium-sized hall with 1,200 seats, and a small theater with 1,000 seats to accommodate a variety of events.

Six projects were signed at the conference, including the upgraded Shanghai Super Happy Valley.

The project plans to invest 2.6 billion yuan for the renovation of Shanghai Happy Valley within eight years, introducing new amusement facilities and creating brand-new immersive performances.

"For example, we plan to introduce Asia's first standing roller coaster in the project," said Hu Wei, general manager of Shanghai Happy Valley.

The world's first large-scale application scenario of embodied intelligent robots, an intelligent cultural tourism project, will land in Shanghai Lingang Special Area, creating interactive experiences between robots and tourists.

Through tours guided by robots and multilingual services, visitors can obtain cultural and tourism information and receive accurate answers, said Ren Xiaohui, a representative of the project.

"The goal is to make it behave like a human as it can even understand tourists' dialects, replace service scenarios that humans cannot reach, and provide in-depth guided tours for different age groups to ensure a delightful experience," said Ren.

The city government has released the three-year action plan for comprehensively promoting the high-quality development of Shanghai's tourism industry (2025-2027), emphasizing the need to accelerate the development of an Asia-Pacific tourism investment gateway.