Travel News
- Shanghai News
Date: 1-Feb-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
Having bypassed the 6 million mark for overseas tourists last year, Shanghai has set its sights on attracting 10 million in 2010, when it will host the World Expo, officials at the municipal tourism administrative commission said.
No other city on the Chinese mainland, including Beijing, has ever attracted 6 million overseas tourists in a single year, much less 10 million.
And that's not the only challenge. Shanghai lacks both ancient relics like Beijing's Great Wall and spectacular natural scenery like the nature reserve of Jiuzhaigou.
When it reported that Shanghai had attracted a record number of overseas tourists last year, China Tourism News, a trade publication, attributed the city's success to its modern tourism facilities, which it had successfully used to host conferences and festivals.
The report also mentioned the city's general openness and the high quality of the services on offer there.
And the city's buildings are not without charm. Places like the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai Museum have become tourist attractions in their own right.
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower, for example, is second only to the Eiffel Tower in Paris in terms of the number of people who visit it each year and has become a symbol of Shanghai.
The city's reputation has also been enhanced by the many expos and festivals it has hosted. Shanghai played host to nearly 500 international conferences and 300 international expos last year.
Shanghai has long been an international city, integrating elements of both East and West, giving it a sense of openness.
What brings many visitors from overseas is 'the fact that Shanghai, as a huge oriental metropolis, doesn't refuse 'alien' culture and history,' said a foreign visitor, quoted by China Tourism News.
In order to realize its goals for 2010, Shanghai is working hard to woo more foreign travelers.
'We will exert great efforts to tap the potential markets in Europe, America, Oceania and Asia by holding promotional conferences in target countries,' said the municipal tourism administrative commission.
The city will also cooperate more with Shanghai-based and foreign-funded travel agencies. Foreign-funded travel agencies have been allowed to operate in Shanghai for nearly three years, though some barriers remain.
Shao Qiwei, director of the China National Tourism Administration, said earlier the country would lift restrictions on foreign travel agencies planning to open subsidiaries in China and lower the registered capital requirement for foreign-funded travel agencies to 2.5 million yuan ($317,000) from 4 million yuan ($507,000) on July 1.
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