Number of tourists to Shanghai hits 8.8 million

Tourists throng the Bund yesterday on the last day of the weeklong National Day holiday. It was one of the top three places for tourists in the city during the holiday, with 5.2 million visitors. Other hotspots included Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall and Yuyuan Garden. The city attracted more than 8.8 million visitors from outside Shanghai during the holiday, up 15.8 percent year on year. — Zhang Suoqing

More than 8.8 million tourists flocked to the city during the weeklong National Day holiday — a year-on-year increase of 15.8 percent, officials said Tuesday.

Tourism revenue over the holiday break that ended yesterday rose 10.5 percent to 8.26 billion yuan (US$1.35 billion), said the Shanghai Holiday Coordinating Office.

Fine weather, plus a variety of activities during the Shanghai Tourism Festival which ended on Monday, helped bring the hike in visitor numbers to a total of 8.81 million, according to the office.

Among the most popular destinations were the Yuyuan garden area, the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall and the Bund.

They attracted 3.3 million, 8.1 million and 5.22 million people respectively, the office said.

City parks were also packed with holiday crowds, attracting 7.28 million people — a year-on-year increase of 27.7 percent, said the office.

Happy Valley, which hosted an international magic festival, drew around 158,000 visitors over the holiday, up 39 percent from the same period last year.

Opening times were extended at the theme park to handle the big crowds.

Meanwhile, the 15th Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival helped bring more than 80,000 visitors to Century Park, statistics showed.

Among the visitors to Shanghai, 2.2 million traveled by train, 910,000 took flights and 12,000 came by ferry, according to officials.

Data showed that an increasing number of visitors drove to tourist attractions, leading to some congestion problems.

Scenic spots such as the Zhujiajiao water town didn't make enough parking spaces available, the office said.

The authorities said they stepped up efforts to regulate the tourism market in the run-up to the holiday, resulting in no major safety incidents.

According to the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, sales in the city's 465 retailers increased 10.4 percent from a year earlier to 6.45 billion yuan during the holiday. The rate was 4.9 percentage points faster than that during the weeklong Spring Festival early this year.