Shanghai legislators, political advisors suggest ways to attract more foreign travelers

Several city legislators and political advisors in Shanghai suggested better integrating the city's unique resources in culture, art, and sports with its tourism and consumption sectors to further attract tourists from overseas at their ongoing annual gatherings.

Such suggestions aim to enhance Shanghai's international consumer appeal by leveraging the city's existing resources, such as the Shanghai Tourism Festival, Shanghai International Arts Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, F1 Shanghai Grand Prix, and Shanghai Marathon.

Huang Chunhua, a political advisor, suggested enhancing the official websites and apps introduced by Shanghai authorities to inbound travelers, by referencing top international media and online social platforms' latest recommendations of Shanghai's attractions and consumption venues.

Also, she noted a significant disparity in the number of paid products available on the popular booking platform GetYourGuide for Shanghai compared with cities such as New York, Paris, London, and Tokyo.

"Shanghai only offers around 150 items, with offerings such as the Bund and Zhujiajiao water town. All the other cities have more than 800 items each. The municipality needs to develop more tourism products and services that embody its essence, international appeal, and fashion sense, offering experiences that cannot be found elsewhere," said Huang, who is also chairwoman of Shanghai Qingshi Zhitong Investment Center.

As the number of non-English-speaking inbound tourists rises, they also suggested developing an official digital tour guide combining multilingual services. Also, such services shall catch up in shopping malls, museums, and sports venues.

Political advisor Hong Qinghua suggested accelerating the development of business models catering to the young consumers.

"With strong purchasing power, young people today are particularly fond of paying for products and services that provide emotional values and those with culturally creative elements and a sense of technology," said Hong, who is also chairman of Joyu, an international tourism operations group.

Shanghai had 4.56 million foreign arrivals and departures in 2024, which doubled the figure of the previous year, according to the city government.