As the crisp autumn air begins to brush the Huangpu River, Shanghai recently wrapped up its impressive 36th Tourism Festival. It was quite an affair, running for 93 days and nicely transitioning from the summer months into a culturally rich experience. With the theme "Embracing Beauty and Happiness," the festival officially concluded on October 7, 2025, at the Shanghai Expo Cultural Park. The season saw almost 97 million tourists come to the city who spent about 152.4 billion yuan (roughly $21.4 billion). That's a really significant jump of about 27% compared to the previous year!
The Shanghai Tourism Festival tried something new with a "one section and two seasons" approach, combining summer tourism with more traditional activities. They put on over 500 events, and they teamed up with big events like the Shanghai Summer International Consumption Season to really make the city a hub for cultural tourism. This success didn't just break some records, but it also showed that Shanghai is still a top spot in China for international tourists.
Igniting Consumption: Policies, Places, and Pioneering Experiences
The central idea of the festival was really about boosting both supply and demand, so it focused on "optimize supply, activate consumption." It combined different policy benefits, regional collaboration, and some new ideas to make it happen. For example, from September 13 to 19, 63 popular spots—think Legoland Shanghai and the Oriental Pearl Tower—offered half-price tickets, and that created a lot of excitement. Ctrip mentioned that they saw about a 51.04% increase in ticket bookings and around a 54.43% increase in spending, and hotel stays also went up, around 27.59% compared to last year. Similarly, Qunar's data showed a good increase. They saw hotel occupancy go up by around 22% in important areas between July and September, alongside 17.69% growth in room sales.
Larger online platforms such as Ctrip and Meituan blended shopping, festivals, and general engagement into smooth experiences, and they added personalized things like "Aigou Shanghai Tourism Festival." This promotion recorded more than 18 billion network impressions and really helped to create a cycle of online and in-person spending. Looking at different regions, things worked out really well: Legoland opened in the summer which lined up with the start of the festival, and it ended up welcoming about 600,000 visitors, sometimes as many as 15,000 each day. Hotels in that area saw occupancy rates go over 90%. Also, Jing'an had its International Tea Culture Festival, Qingpu held the World Rowing Championships, and Songjiang did a Parent-Child Tourism Week. These events brought in various types of visitors, and Shanghai ended up being the most popular spot for summer tourism on Douyin. Also, businesses participating in "Lohas Shanghai" saw their sales go up by about 31% month-on-month.
New attractions added more to the city: things like "Goodbye Blue and White," which was an immersive VR experience, and the Prado Museum's virtual tours gave people interesting ways to explore the city. And suburban areas—the Jiading Nanxiang National Tide Conference, the Jinshan Fengjing Water Town Wedding Ceremony, and Dishui Lake's Light and Shadow Fireworks—drew city dwellers outward. This broadened spending geographically and generally improved the economies of suburban areas.
Amplifying Reach: Parades, Partnerships, and People's Stories
The festival relied on "phenomenal activities + linkage products + national communication" to promote Shanghai. One big highlight was the Bund Parade. This multicultural show on September 13 included 25 floats and 24 performance groups against the backdrop of the city skyline. There were more than 23,000 mentions of it in the news media, and the content received nearly 100 million views across short video platforms and images. Subsequently, the parade floats traveled more than 1,000 kilometers across 11 significant areas of the city, bringing 3.4 million "float followers" to see the sights. The floats were also displayed from September 29 to October 6 at the World Expo Cultural Park in Pudong. The display synced with the World Expo Flower Art Festival and featured a final showing of the floats among floral arrangements. A Jay Chou-themed float was particularly well-received.
Throughout the country, five other locations hosted events similar to the main festival: Mianyang in Sichuan held the Xianhai Lake Drama Festival and Shigatse in Tibet hosted its Intangible Cultural Heritage Feast. These events created some harmony. And, cross-regional partnerships grew as well with initiatives such as "China White Dehua Porcelain" exhibition and the return of “Why Dunhuang” show. The Yangtze River Delta's burgeoning "cultural tourism living room" found voice through a mix of high-speed rail initiatives and romantic rose-themed wedding packages linking Shanghai with Jiangsu province, all amplified by the cultural festival.
Everyday perspectives helped shape the festival's direction. The "Tourism Festival in My Heart" campaign drew in large crowds, further bolstered by celebrity endorsements, such as Tang Yan. Sixteen leaders from international troupes became "Shanghai Entry Observers," communicating the city's allure through their global social media networks. The memorable "This is Shanghai" slogan and associated promotional videos, featuring both Chinese and international "city recommenders," aimed to present the city's architecture as "readable," effectively disseminating its narratives worldwide.
Elevating Experiences: Art, Exploration, and Tech Touches
A key objective of the festival was to transform existing urban resources into captivating and accessible experiences, leveraging refined and user-friendly services. Cultural experiences were reconceptualized as “art tours,” such as Hongkou's "Enjoy the North Bund" rooftop concert series, Jing'an's "Fashion Performing Arts Week" offering over one hundred free events, and Fengxian's "Performing Arts Life Festival," which featured about 100 activities, collectively transforming Shanghai into what was termed a "borderless music city." High-profile museum events, like the "Orsay Treasures" at the Pudong Art Museum and the "Hongshan Ancient Civilization" exhibits, maintained significant public attention, demonstrating that "one exhibition, one city" can have a magical impact.
The rise of the "check-in economy" was propelled by walkable attractions. For example, Hongkou's "Hongkou is a Museum" used augmented reality to bring history to life, and Xuhui's west-bank waterfront connected more than 10 artistic venues. Putuo's "Waterfront Fun Week" highlighted various piers along the Suzhou River. The "City Players Enjoy Shanghai" campaign, which highlighted 100 sites in 16 districts, included photography contests intended to encourage a deeper "city reading."
Technology was strategically integrated into the festival experience, improving ease of navigation and access. A one-stop application handled inquiries, provided booking capabilities, and facilitated public transit information. Scenic discounts (up to 60%!) via Didi and public voting rounds added an element of fun. The "Senior Travel" ShanghaiPass, useful in 330 cities across China, and the "Shanghai Travel Guide," designed for international visitors, streamlined travel logistics for both domestic and international tourists.
The philosophy of "tourism +" moved beyond a traditional "ticket economy" approach towards a more comprehensive industrial model. For instance, partnerships with the International Light and Shadow Festival led to the creation of "Chasing Light and Shadow" night tours, and collaborations with the China Shanghai International Arts Festival resulted in "Tourism + Art" themed activities. Baoshan's International Cruise Festival collaborated with nine other cities to create "Cruise + Consumer" initiatives and "Cruise + Jiangnan Ancient Town" tour routes. The upgrading of ancient towns was enhanced through festival-driven events, such as Zhujiajiao's Intangible Heritage Season and the Jinze Rural Tourism Festival.
According to Zhong Xiaomin, who directs the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, the festival offers an avenue for the city to express its spirit and convey local stories to a global audience. As the memory of the celebration fades, Shanghai Tourism Festival reinforces its status as a worldwide destination, merging tradition with a forward-thinking perspective and inviting visitors to partake in the city’s beauty and joy.
