Tourism Plus Shanghai 2021 expo ends today
Shanghai’s ‘Tourism Plus Shanghai 2021’ expo ends today after six days of exhibitions.
Aiming to be the world’s largest tourism exposition, Tourism Plus Shanghai 2021 hosted over 7,000 exhibitors and attracted over 500,000 visitors. The expo targeted three different industries: tourism, catering and lifestyle. In 2020, tourism in Shanghai alone amounted to over 236 million domestic visitors bringing the city roughly $42.8 billion in revenue. During the expo, Fang Shizhong, Shanghai’s director of administration of culture and tourism, announced the city’s plan to develop 20 new smart scenic areas and 600 smart hotels in 2021 in pursuit of doubling tourism revenue over the next five years.
Over that period, Chinese domestic tourism is expected to reach 10 billion travellers and $1.5 trillion in spending per year, representing roughly 10% of national GDP. Tourism Plus Shanghai 2021 is pushing the concept of blending Chinese lifestyle, food and culture into one consumable tourism product enabled by technology. China’s tourism development is not just for its own people though, it is also a soft power play. China aims to attract international tourists with the intention of impressing upon visitors China’s role as a modern superpower, aided by initiatives such as the proposed smart hotels.
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