Local demand drives Shanghai's Lunar New Year tourism

SHANGHAI -- Although millions of Chinese people avoided travel and stayed put, Shanghai's culture and tourism market recovered fast, driven by strong local leisure demand during the Spring Festival holiday.

Shanghai recorded over 4.92 million tourist visits during the seven-day holiday since Feb 11, bouncing back to 96 percent of the number in the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday in 2019 before the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the city's administration of culture and tourism.

It said over 81 percent of the visitors were locals, and the total tourism revenue reached 5.67 billion yuan (about $877 million).

The average occupancy rate of the city's hotels bounced back to 90 percent of the level in the same period of 2019. The rate for hotels in suburban areas was over 50 percent, more than 20 percentage points higher than in the same period of 2019.

"We have achieved remarkable results in cultivating Lunar-New-Year celebration brand and products featuring traditional culture, as well as boosting online and offline consumption," said Cheng Meihong, deputy director of the city's culture and tourism administration.