Free half-day tours frequently surprise foreigners, and Shanghai is the most popular inbound tour during the May Day holiday
Recently, there have been more foreigners in Shanghai, and this trend was also obvious during the May Day holiday. Data from Ctrip shows that in the first quarter of this year, domestic inbound travel orders increased more than three times year-on-year. Inbound tourism orders during the May Day holiday also increased by 130% year-on-year. Among them, Shanghai is the most popular destination for inbound tourists.
In 2024, Shanghai will fully launch the "VisitShanghai" plan, relying on foreign institutions in Shanghai, overseas cultural centers, major global festivals and exhibitions, and making good use of international cultural tourism groups and overseas charity promoters to plan and launch a series of promotional materials, promotional videos, and marketing activities .
During the "May Day" period, there are new ways to play inbound tourism in Shanghai. Starting from April 15, Ctrip launched the "Free Shanghai Half-Day Tour for Inbound Tourists" public welfare project at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
"Turkey and Singapore both offer half-day tours for international transit tourists. We have responded to the call to develop inbound tourism and have also begun to try it." Zhang Chengjie, overseas marketing director of Ctrip Group, said that April and May are the peak months for foreign tourists to enter, and now they come to Shanghai for international transit There are also many flights, so we specially launched it before May Day.
"Free Shanghai Half-day Tour for Inbound Tourists" covers three time periods: morning, afternoon and evening.
The "Free Shanghai Half-Day Tour for Inbound Tourists" covers three time periods: morning, afternoon and evening. It takes the form of a small group tour of China and Pakistan, lasting 5 to 6 hours. This public welfare product allows more foreigners to connect with Shanghai.
Tour guide Ms. Dai has led inbound and outbound tour groups, and now she has also joined the "Free Shanghai Half-Day Tour for Inbound Tourists" project. "The biggest difference from the previous inbound tour groups is that most of the inbound tour groups are foreigners who come to Shanghai specifically. They usually have made a guide in advance and have some understanding of China and Shanghai. However, many of the half-day tours are transit passengers. , I didn’t originally want to visit downtown Shanghai, and I didn’t even know much about China and Shanghai.”
Precisely because they didn’t know much about it, a half-day tour completely refreshed their understanding, making them frequently lament that Shanghai was “amazing”.
"A New Zealand tourist only knew that China is a big country. This time he came to Shanghai and was surprised by everything from the airport. For example, the AI robots at the airport and the high-rise buildings along the way made him feel that Shanghai is too developed. When he arrived at the Bund, the bustling The sight also surprised him." Ms. Dai said that the New Zealand tourist kept taking photos and videos along the way and shared them on social media with the text "thecityofthefuture".
There was also a German uncle who came to Shanghai for the second time and was also surprised every time. The last time this German uncle came to Shanghai was 30 years ago. On the way to visit, he often showed an expression of disbelief, saying that the changes were so great and that he was completely in two different worlds.
Ms. Dai said that local snacks such as xiaolongbao, the cleanliness and sanitation of Shanghai city, and Shanghai's nightlife have all aroused the interest of foreign tourists. Some foreign tourists who visit Shanghai at night said that they are very happy to go out at night in Shanghai, but they would not dare to go out at night in their own countries. This also makes Ms. Dai proud: "In the past, when taking outbound tour groups abroad, the biggest concern was safety issues. For example, there were more thieves in some places. At home, we don't need to consider these issues at all, and we can focus more on introducing the culture and scenery of Shanghai. Attractions.”
Many people are concerned about the payment problems of foreigners in Shanghai. Regarding this, Ms. Dai feels that there is no need to worry too much: "Some larger stores in Shanghai support credit cards, and tourists who come to China specifically to visit will prepare the necessary APPs in advance. For half-day For transit passengers, we will remind them to change some RMB change before departure at the airport, so there will basically not be any big problem.”
According to statistics, the "Free Shanghai Half-day Tour for Inbound Tourists" has served hundreds of tourists from Western Europe, Russia, South Africa, East Asia, New Zealand and other places. Some travelers learned about this event through Ctrip’s overseas platform trip.com, while others saw the event after landing at Pudong Airport and decided to participate on the spur of the moment.
"This project has received 100% positive feedback from foreign tourists. Many people not only spontaneously introduced their experiences to their relatives and friends, but also expressed that they would make a special trip to Shanghai and China next time." Zhang Chengjie said: "In the future, we plan to cooperate with Shanghai Cultural Center Further cooperation with tourism bureaus, airports, airlines, etc. will allow more people to understand Shanghai and China through inbound tourism.”
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