Shanghai's inbound tourism market leads the country, receiving over 1.58 million inbound tourists in the first seven months of this year
Not long ago, Shanghai officially announced the return of this year's Shanghai International Art Festival, and the Shanghai Tourism Festival is also about to kick off. A series of urban festival activities have become highlights that attract tourists from both domestic and international markets. From January to July this year, Shanghai received a total of 1.5817 million inbound tourists, a year-on-year increase of 410.8%, showing a good trend of accelerating recovery. With the comprehensive restart of the inbound tourism market, Shanghai is making multiple efforts to build the first stop for inbound tourism in China.
Fang Shizhong, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, said that Shanghai is an important window for the world to observe China, a central node of the domestic circulation, and a strategic link between domestic and international circulation. It holds a special position in the global urban network. In the past decade, Shanghai has always been the preferred port for inbound tourism in China. In 2019, Shanghai received a total of 8.9723 million inbound tourists and achieved a tourism foreign exchange income of 8.38 billion US dollars, accounting for about 1.5% of the city's GDP, significantly higher than other cities in the country. In the first seven months of this year, Shanghai continued to lead the country in the number of inbound tourists received.
Fang Shizhong, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, said that Shanghai is an important window for the world to observe China, a central node of the domestic circulation, and a strategic link between domestic and international circulation. It holds a special position in the global urban network. In the past decade, Shanghai has always been the preferred port for inbound tourism in China. In 2019, Shanghai received a total of 8.9723 million inbound tourists and achieved a tourism foreign exchange income of 8.38 billion US dollars, accounting for about 1.5% of the city's GDP, significantly higher than other cities in the country. In the first seven months of this year, Shanghai continued to lead the country in the number of inbound tourists received.
One is to focus on enhancing the attractiveness of tourism products. Fully grasping the evolution trend of global passenger consumption demand, with the goal of expanding the number of tourists coming to Shanghai, extending their stay time in Shanghai, and improving their consumption level in Shanghai, we plan to launch multi-level and differentiated tourism route products, creating a group of urban open scenic spots suitable for walking, resting, and experiencing, better reflecting international style, highlighting Chinese elements, and showcasing Shanghai's characteristics, so that incoming tourists do not want to leave, but still want to come.
According to international experience, large-scale festivals and events are often the "golden business card" for promoting the city's image and the "accelerator" for attracting international tourists. To this end, Shanghai will take this year's Tourism Festival as a new starting point, continuously promote and optimize inbound tourism work, and it is expected to attract more than 3 million inbound tourists within the year. In the future, we will focus on three areas of improvement work.
One is to focus on enhancing the attractiveness of tourism products. Fully grasping the evolution trend of global passenger consumption demand, with the goal of expanding the number of tourists coming to Shanghai, extending their stay time in Shanghai, and improving their consumption level in Shanghai, we plan to launch multi-level and differentiated tourism route products, creating a group of urban open scenic spots suitable for walking, resting, and experiencing, better reflecting international style, highlighting Chinese elements, and showcasing Shanghai's characteristics, so that incoming tourists do not want to leave, but still want to come.
Tourism is a bridge for spreading civilization, exchanging culture, and enhancing friendship. Fang Shizhong stated that as the vanguard of national reform and opening up and a pioneer in innovative development, Shanghai has the conditions, capabilities, and responsibilities to create the first stop for inbound tourism in China at a high level, better leverage the diversion and radiation effects, and help boost China's inbound tourism market. On the banks of "one river, one river" and in the newly lit world reception hall, Shanghai is warmly welcoming tourists from all over the world with open arms.