Large scale tourist groups have entered Shanghai in succession

"First Look at Shanghai", "First Look at China"

Citizens and tourists experience the beauty of spring, receive 6.641 million person times in three days of holidays, and spend 10.68 billion yuan on tourism

Yesterday morning, the cruise ship "Maishifu 5" carrying more than 2500 overseas tourists arrived at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Port in the drizzle. The jubilant dragon and lion dances, the exquisite interaction of intangible cultural heritage and the lucky "one bag of Shanghai" cultural and creative gifts opened up the beauty and emotion of "first sight of Shanghai" and "first sight of China" for these tourists.

More than 3600 tourists will disembark during the two days when the "Maxim Five" stops in Shanghai, which is also the largest overseas tourist group in China since the resumption of inbound tourism. Today and tomorrow, two overseas cruise ships will arrive at the Shanghai Port International Passenger Transport Center, bringing nearly 1000 inbound tourists to Shanghai. The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said that it is of great significance for large-scale tourist groups to enter Shanghai in succession, which marks that Shanghai is moving forward steadily with the goal of building "the first destination of inbound tourism in China" at a high level.

16 routes exploring Shanghai

At 7:50 yesterday, when the jubilant dragon and lion dance performance on the wharf opened, many curious tourists suddenly appeared on the balcony of the originally quiet "Maishifu V" cruise ship, and many people raised their mobile phones to take the first picture of their trip to Shanghai. At the end of the performance, the tourists on the balcony applauded warmly to see them off, and the tourists shouted to the performers to "come again".

The passengers of the "Maishiv V" cruise ship are mainly from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other countries, most of whom come to Shanghai for the first time. At the arrival hall of Wusongkou International Cruise Port, they cheerfully took a group photo with the picture frame with the words "This is Shanghai" and the lion dancers. The "one bag of Shanghai" cultural and creative gifts sent to tourists by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism include the Rongqingtang sachet, the refrigerator sticker of the small steamed bun, the Shanghai tourism map and theme leaflets, etc. A tourist curiously picked up the sachet, sniffed close to his nose, smiled and gave a thumbs up to the staff.

In order to make it easier for inbound tourists to travel, a number of financial institutions have also been invited to set up booths at the welcoming ceremony to provide foreign currency exchange, change and other services for tourists. Simon, a German tourist, told the reporter that he hoped to experience the public transportation back to Shanghai in an all-round way, such as subway, bus, etc. If he has time, he also wants to visit the food market that Shanghai residents often go to and taste Chinese food.

At about 9 o'clock, the first batch of inbound tourists set out from the dock to visit the urban and suburban areas of Shanghai. Sun Peng, the general manager of the entry department of the China International Travel Service (CITS), the destination agency for the entry tour of the "Myshev 5" cruise, told reporters that during the two days when the cruise stopped in Shanghai, CITS provided 16 shore and upstream routes for tourists to choose from, and some tourists will explore Shanghai in a free way.

Among the more than 10 Shanghai tour routes, the one-day tour route of Yufo Temple, Xintiandi, the Bund, Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, Yuyuan Garden, and Jinmao Mansion was the most popular one for tourists disembarking yesterday. In addition, a half day tour of Nanjing Road, the Bund, Yu Garden, a night tour of the Huangpu River and a tour of Time and Space 2 are also popular. Some tourists also chose the combination route of Shanggang workers' residential area, weekend market, China Pavilion of World Expo, Mercedes Benz Cultural Center, etc., which reflects the modern life of Shanghai.

Inbound travel is expected to be more concentrated in the second half of the year

The successive entry of large cruise tourism groups marks the continuous recovery of the inbound tourism market in Shanghai, which has inspired many inbound tourism practitioners. In many scenic spots and blocks in Shanghai, many tourism practitioners and citizens have also clearly felt the increasing concentration of foreign tourists.

As one of the high frequency performances of foreign tourists' clocking in in Shanghai, Time Travel 2 has recently welcomed more and more foreign tourist groups. Chen Tao, the deputy general manager of Time Travel, told reporters that since April, the number of inbound tourists who came to watch Time Travel 2 has increased significantly, involving dozens of countries in Europe, America, Africa, Southeast Asia and other regions. For this reason, Time and Space Journey 2 has specially selected the most distinctive and representative programs and launched a 60 minute compact version that is more suitable for the travel team's guests.

Yang Jing, Director of the Publicity and Promotion Department of the Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, revealed that since Shanghai fully launched the "Visit Shanghai" inbound tourism image promotion campaign on December 11 last year, all parties have worked together to position Shanghai as the preferred entrance for tourists to visit China, display the city's scenic spots and improve its brand image. The Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism has also launched a series of overseas promotional activities, The large-scale tourism exhibition held in Berlin in March and a series of promotion activities to be held in Abu Dhabi in May of this year. Data shows that from January to March this year, Shanghai has received 10 inbound cruise ships, with a total number of tourists of more than 22000. It is estimated that 18 cruise ships will be received throughout the year, with a total number of tourists of more than 40000.

The reporter also learned that the number of inbound tourists received by some tourism institutions since this year has recovered to about 60% in the same period of 2019. Considering that inbound tourists generally determine their travel plans at least half a year to one year in advance, the actual effect of the visa free policy that China has announced intensively in recent months is expected to be realized in the second half of the year, when Shanghai will usher in another peak of inbound tourists reception. In order to facilitate foreign tourists' shopping and payment, all hotels above three-star level and scenic spots above 3A level in Shanghai have achieved full coverage of wild card POS machines.

It is also reported that during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, colorful activities such as going outing to enjoy flowers, watching operas and exhibitions, and shopping in the business circle have brought vigorous popularity to Shanghai, and the major tourist attractions in Shanghai have ushered in peak passenger flow. According to the monitoring of Shanghai tourism big data, a total of 6.641 million tourists were received in Shanghai during the three days of holidays, and the total amount of all factor tourism consumption transactions including food, accommodation, transportation, travel, shopping, entertainment, etc. amounted to 10.68 billion yuan. (Reporter Li Baohua)

Share to let more people see