Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Happy Valley and other scenic spots have set a new high in summer passenger flow, and Shanghai's cultural and tourism consumption continues to be hot in Happy Valley | tourists | Oriental Pearl TV Tower
At 14:00 on a working day in the middle of August, tourists waiting to take the elevator in the Oriental Pearl TV Tower Radio and Television Tower formed a long queue, and tourists at the entrance were still pouring in. Throughout the summer, queuing up to the Pearl Tower was almost the norm. The influx of tourists has also set new records for the summer single day passenger flow and revenue of the Pearl Tower several times.
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower Tower is not the only place where the passenger flow exceeds. In July of this year, the number of visitors to Shanghai Happy Valley Water and Land Parks increased by 73% compared to the same period in 2019, setting a new record for the number of visitors during the same period since its opening; The number of urban sightseeing buses shuttling between major scenic spots in Shanghai is expected to increase by 15% -20% year-on-year during the summer. The number of tourists received in the first seven months has already caught up with the total number of tourists in 2019. In addition, attractions such as Shanghai Disneyland and Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park have seen a significant increase in summer passenger flow.
Why do people hesitate to queue up and come to Shanghai to experience popular attractions and projects?
Injecting cultural connotations, classic urban projects are often played and updated
This summer, Wang Qing and her family of four from Hebei climbed the 259-meter fully transparent suspended sightseeing corridor of the Pearl Tower for the first time. The scenery on both sides of the Pujiang River was breathtaking, and the reduced version of the road and the constant flow of vehicles under the sightseeing corridor made the two children quite curious. However, due to the large number of tourists, if a family wants to take a family photo, they need to take action at every opportunity. "I waited in line for an hour and a half just waiting for the elevator on the tower."
On the day Wang Qing ascended the tower, it was not the peak summer passenger flow of the Pearl Tower. Guo Yifeng, general manager of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower Radio and Television Tower, told reporters that the one-day passenger flow and revenue of the tower in July this year hit a new summer high over the years, and the record was broken twice in August. "On summer workdays, we have a daily passenger flow of about 20000 people, with the highest weekend passenger flow reaching 25000 people. Tickets for the revolving restaurant on the Pearl Tower were sold out a month earlier, and the passenger flow at the Coca Cola Happy Restaurant below the tower increased by more than 60% compared to the same period in 2019. During the summer vacation, we mobilized all staff to strengthen on-site duty."
In the Oriental Pearl TV Tower Tower, tourists waiting to take the sightseeing elevator line up on the second floor of the Zero meter hall. Photo by Li Baohua
The Shanghai Happy Valley, located in the Sheshan National Tourism Resort in Shanghai, saw a significant increase in the number of visitors to the water and land parks during the summer compared to the same period in 2019. At the same time, the young customer group aged 18-29 and the customer group aged 40 and above both exceeded the same period in 2019, and tourists came from all over the country. At stations such as the Bund and New World City, tourists waiting for urban sightseeing buses during the summer often queue up in long lines.
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Happy Valley and sightseeing buses are not new attractions or new projects in Shanghai. Why can they set a new high in summer passenger flow? Guo Yifeng believes that this is mainly due to the rapid return of urban tourism customers throughout Shanghai this year. "The travel demand of tourists accumulated for three years has rebounded this year. Many families are taking their children to travel, and large cities with good transportation and accommodation facilities and high service standards are their first choice. This summer, the Bund of Shanghai and the Nanjing Road Walkway are full of tourists, and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower has also received this wave of industry recovery dividends."
Tourists queue up at the Bund station of the urban sightseeing bus to board. Photo by Li Baohua
On the other hand, innovating consumer supply and injecting cultural connotations have also made classic tourism projects in Shanghai constantly new and exciting. As early as before the summer peak, Oriental Pearl TV Tower had updated several areas and projects in the tower in advance: the 351 meter space capsule was built into the first domestic offline immersion experience venue with the theme of "space+cultural tourism" in high altitude, allowing tourists to experience space interaction in person through space cell walls, quantum shuttles, space breeding training, digital parallel world and other interactive scenes; The VR roller coaster at an altitude of 90 meters expands the original high-altitude crossing scene in Lujiazui into a scene of going up, down, and into the sea, integrating national ocean strategy, aerospace strategy, and metaverse elements; The Zero meter Hall uses cloud native, 4R, AI technology, and other techniques to recreate 10 Chinese famous paintings that have been passed down since ancient times, such as the "Luoshen Fu Tu" and "Bu Nian Tu"; Tourists can also wear VR glasses to enjoy the wonders created by world art masters such as Van Gogh, Monet, and Monk in famous paintings such as "Starry Moon Night", "Water Lilies", and "Scream"... These traditional tower climbing and sightseeing secondary consumption projects further enrich the tourism connotation of the Pearl Tower and make direct contributions to creating new summer revenue highs for the scenic spots.
In Shanghai Happy Valley, cultural performances and festival activities have also become two powerful tools for attracting fans and increasing income in the park. During this summer, visitors to the amusement park can enjoy the large-scale cross media reality water show "Tianmu Shuiji" every day, experiencing the Chinese civilization of "unity of heaven and man, and all things taking shape" through the changes in lighting, water features, and music; The special effects reality drama "New Shanghai Beach Storm", set against the backdrop of old Shanghai culture, showcases the legend of Shanghai style culture through live performances.
At the end of July, Shanghai Happy Valley float parade performers and tourists interacted. Provided by the interviewed unit
Gao Bei, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Happy Valley, believes that in addition to basic amusement projects and theme parks, Happy Valley has always adhered to the "tourism+performance" layout model, gathering various cultural festival activities with trendy elements such as flash mob, Chinese style, anime, street dance, music, etc., endowing the park with deeper cultural connotations and accumulating a large number of fans. "During this year's National Fashion Festival, the number of visitors to Happy Valley increased by 157% compared to the same period in 2021. During the EV electronic music festival, many fans and tourists from all over the country rushed to Happy Valley, breaking through the market radius of the previous 3-hour drive."
The urban sightseeing bus, which also makes tourists queue up tirelessly, has become a "mobile panoramic classroom" after adding content such as architecture readability, Shanghai style urban archaeology, and Shanghai History Museum entrance explanations, allowing tourists to fully learn and experience the rich historical and cultural heritage of Shanghai.
Radiate surrounding businesses and promote the linkage of business, tourism, and culture
The large passenger flow attracted by multiple top attractions and projects in Shanghai also radiates to the surrounding catering, accommodation, and amusement facilities, further promoting the linkage between business, tourism, and culture.
Wang Lu, the business manager of Spring and Autumn sightseeing buses, told reporters that sightseeing buses work together with nearby restaurants, cafes, time-honored brands, and other businesses to provide tourists with online and offline linkage services. Offline, after getting off at stations such as Jinling East Road Pier, Customs Building, and Old Shanghai Meteorological Signal Tower, tourists can go to a tea shop on Guangdong Road to have a simple meal and enjoy discounts based on the recommendations of the staff; Online, tourists can purchase Shanghai specialties in the newly launched "Urban Sightseeing Bus" mini program mall column, featuring famous Shanghai food brands such as Shao Wansheng and Meilongzhen Restaurant, as well as food and accommodation packages offered by hotels such as Shanghai Wanda Ruihua, Tomorrow JW Marriott, and Shanghai Tower.
The strong popularity of Shanghai Happy Valley has also directly benefited the commercial project Baole Hui next to Sheshan Metro Station. On summer evenings, people who have been playing in Happy Valley for a day prepare to take the subway back to the city. They usually have dinner at Baole Hui before leaving, which has driven the sales of restaurants in the commercial area and nearby small shops. In the first half of this year, the Sheshan National Tourism Resort in Shanghai, where Happy Valley is located, received over 6.65 million tourists and achieved a total tourism revenue of 878 million yuan, an increase of 14.12% and 32.4% respectively compared to the same period in 2019.
Visitors waiting to enter the Shanghai Museum. Photographed by Meng Yuhan
In Xiaolujiazui, hotels such as the International Convention Center, Shangri La, and Kempinski have ticket agency cooperation with the Pearl Tower, and the room occupancy rate is also maintaining a high level. "As far as I know, the average room rental rate of some hotels around the Pearl Tower has been more than 90% recently." Guo Yifeng said that because the queue time is relatively long at the peak of the Pearl Tower passenger flow, some tourists turn to the Shanghai center, Jinmao Tower Sightseeing Hall and other climbing spots, and the whole Lujiazui area has ushered in a bumper summer passenger flow.
The latest statistical data released by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism shows that under the background of deep integration of culture and tourism in the city, embracing new audiences, and seizing new tracks, the main indicators of the Shanghai cultural and tourism market have rapidly risen this year, with strong recovery achieved in cultural and artistic exhibitions, performing arts, online audiovisual, and holiday cultural tourism. In the first half of this year, Shanghai received 139 million domestic tourists and achieved a domestic tourism revenue of 155.19 billion yuan, an increase of 117.94% and 164.13% year-on-year, both higher than the national growth level during the same period, and have recovered to 80% and 70% of the same period in Shanghai in 2019. Fang Shizhong, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, stated that given the enormous development resilience and potential of China's economy, the long-term positive fundamentals have not changed. The accelerated recovery of the entire cultural and tourism industry in the second half of the year will be a deterministic event. "The cultural and tourism industry will enter a period of accelerated development, and there must be great potential and also great achievements."
