Shanghai gears up for post-Covid tourism boom as Disneyland raises ticket prices
- Shanghai should seize the strengthening recovery in the tourism industry to make it the primary driver for the consumption and services sectors, says local tourism chief
- Shanghai Disneyland raising ticket prices by as much as 9.9 per cent from next month as city gears up for peak tourism season
Shanghai is putting behind three years of damage caused by zero-Covid restrictions to its tourism industry, with Disneyland, the city’s premier tourist destination, gearing up for the peak summer season.
Authorities in China’s biggest metropolis have pledged to bolster the sector’s recovery, saying the city should seize the strengthening recovery in the tourism industry to make it the primary driver for the consumption and services sectors.
“Shanghai has cemented its position as a first-choice city for travellers and the tourism and culture market is playing an increasingly important role of attracting traffic and serving as the engine of the economy,” Fang Shizhong, the head of Shanghai’s tourism and culture administration, said on Thursday.
Shanghai Disneyland will raise its regular ticket price by 9.2 per cent to 475 yuan (US$67) that covers most days and weekends from June 23, the Shanghai unit of Walt Disney said in a statement on Thursday.
Admission prices for special days and weekends will be increased by 9.9 per cent to 599 yuan, and the price for most public holidays and the summer season will go up by 9.1 per cent to 719 yuan, it said. Ticket prices that cover special-event days and select public holidays will increase by 3.9 per cent to 799 yuan.
Anecdotal evidence points to pent-up demand for travel powering a quick recovery in Shanghai’s tourism industry, which was completely paralysed this time last year because of the unprecedented two-month lockdown of the city.
The summer holidays for Chinese schools that run from July to August is traditionally the peak season for the nation’s tourism industry.
The metropolis of 25 million residents greeted 15.6 million tourists during the “golden week” holiday earlier this month, with long queues seen at major tourism landmarks from the Oriental Pearl TV Tower to the Wild Animal Park and Shanghai Disneyland.
Walt Disney’s Shanghai park can handle 80,000 guests per day and covers 390 hectares (963 acres), around three times the size of the Hong Kong facility. It is part of the Shanghai Disney Resort, which also features Disneytown, the Wishing Star Park and the Toy Story Hotel.
Shanghai’s household consumption lagged the national average in the first three months. Retail sales grew 5.2 per cent from a year earlier in the span, compared with 5.8 per cent for the whole nation, official data showed.
Consumption, an important driver of China’s economy, has seen the fastest recovery of any sector from the fallout of the pandemic, as the easing of mobility restrictions have unleashed demand for dining, shopping and travelling.
Nationwide, tourism revenue surged to 148 billion yuan during the golden week holiday, topping the pre-pandemic level in 2019, according to official data.
“The recovery in travel will continue,” said Liu Ran, an analyst at Central China Securities. “The increased mobility and a pickup in disposable incomes will further solidify the recovery in the tourism industry.”