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Shanghai Aims to Become Shopping Heaven
The city's retail areas will be turned into a shopaholic's heaven over the next five years, officials said at the City Tourism and Consumption Seminar held recently in Shanghai,as China Daily reports.
"With development of the city's retail sector, tourism will quickly increase," said Cai Hongsheng, deputy director with the Shanghai Municipal Commerce Commission.
The city's total tourism income hit 90.8 billion yuan (US$11 billion) last year.
Over 1.8 million tourists at home and abroad visited Shanghai - 9.5 per cent more than in 1999. A survey conducted by the commission during the May Day holiday found the main purpose of many tourists visiting Shanghai was shopping.
Sales in the city's 178 major stores during the one-week holiday hit 1.1 billion yuan (US$13.3 million), 10.2 per cent higher than the same period last year, according to the statistics from the Shanghai Commercial Information Centre.
More than 50 per cent of purchases in the busy pedestrian section of Nanjing Donglu were by tourists.
In other commercial streets such as Huaihai Lu, Xujiahui and Nanjing Xilu, the figure topped 30 per cent.
"The trend is obvious in our store: more travellers to Shanghai means greater sales," said Tang Jianhua, general manager of the Shanghai Orient Shopping Centre.
He said the shopping centre is considering co-operating with tourist agencies to attract more travellers.
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