Tourism festival spurs consumption in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Cultural and tourism consumption boomed during the three-week Shanghai Tourism Festival, with the city's tourist attractions recording 10.67 million visits, said the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.

During the tourism festival from Sept. 17 to Oct. 6, the occupancy rate of hotels in Shanghai reached 54 percent, 7 percentage points higher from the previous month.

The total amount of consumer transactions on cultural and tourism-related products and services in Shanghai exceeded 74.3 billion yuan (about 10.5 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Shanghai branch of card payment giant China UnionPay.

Reservations on tours to Shanghai's suburban areas increased 200 percent year on year during the National Day holiday, featuring camping and other multiple choices for urbanites.