Shanghai International Tourism Resort, with Shanghai Disneyland as its core, recently celebrated the 3rd anniversary of its opening and operation. According to statistics, in the past three years, the resort has received a total of 51 million Chinese and foreign tourists, with an average daily number of 50,000, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Shanghai. As an important bearing area for Shanghai to build a world-famous tourist city, the practical exploration of Shanghai International Tourism Resort has accumulated valuable experience for the reform and development of China’s tourism industry.
Towards a world-class tourist destination
Shanghai International Tourism Resort is located in the central area of Pudong, Shanghai, with a planned area of 24.7 square kilometers and a core area of 7 square kilometers, about 20 kilometers away from Pudong Airport with a passenger flow of 10 million. It was officially opened on April 26, 2016, and in June of the same year, Shanghai Disneyland, the core scenic spot in the resort, opened.
With an investment of 34 billion yuan, Shanghai Disneyland has won the favor of many family tourists with its high-standard facilities, high-level operation and happy services, especially international IP. Less than one year after its opening, the number of tourists exceeded 11 million, reaching the expected goal one month ahead of schedule. It is understood that two-thirds of the 11 million tourists come from other places, which not only supplements the valuable weekend overnight visitors to the Shanghai accommodation system, but also promotes the rapid development of tourism in the surrounding areas of Disney.
Robert Iger, Chairman and CEO of Walt Disney, said that Shanghai Disneyland is a long-term cooperation project between Walt Disney and China, which reflects Walt Disney’s confidence and commitment in the China market. Shanghai Disneyland announced the construction of the seventh theme park, Pixar Toy Story, more than one year after its opening. It opened in April 2018, and less than one year later, it announced the construction of the “zootopia” theme park. This kind of investment and expansion speed not only shows that Walt Disney is optimistic about the China market for a long time, but also shows the attraction of Shanghai, a hot spot that dares to try first in the tide of reform and opening up, to international tourism giants.
The main force in the construction of the resort is Shanghai Shendi Group, with a registered capital of more than 20.4 billion yuan. It is a national-owned enterprise, mainly responsible for cooperating with Walt Disney Company to jointly invest, build and operate the Shanghai Disney theme park and supporting facilities, and at the same time undertake the tasks of land development, infrastructure construction and related industry development of Shanghai International Tourism Resort. On April 26th this year, Shanghai Shendi Group announced that it would cooperate with REnextop, the exclusive operator of Walt Disney’s brand XGames in China and the extreme sports platform, and plan to hold the World Extreme Games China Summer Tournament in Shanghai International Resort on June 1st and 2nd. At that time, there will be colorful events, music festivals, sports carnivals, art fairs and other contents presented to the citizens and tourists.
Aoulai Outlets in the resort is the 11th shopping village in the world of “bicester village Series” under the British Weitai Group, and at present, more than 150 boutique brands have settled in. Mark Isriel, chief administrative officer of Weitai Group China, revealed: “In the first quarter of 2019, Shanghai Yioulai Outlets achieved remarkable results, with sales revenue increasing by about three digits.”
All these show that the resort is moving towards building a world-class tourist destination step by step. Create the first choice for leisure tourism
In 2018, Shencheng released the first list of “leisure places” for Shanghai residents, and carefully selected 50 “leisure places” for Shanghai residents in 9 districts including Pudong and Minhang, which achieved good social response. This year, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism expanded the recommendation scope to 16 districts in the city, and the number of “good places for leisure” also increased from 50 to 79. As one of the “good places for leisure” on the list, Shanghai International Tourism Resort has put forward the goal of making Shanghai citizens the first choice for leisure tourism.
Wang Qingguo, vice president of Shendi Group, said that Shendi Group has made every effort to improve the quality of the resort and created a number of “Shanghai citizens’ leisure places” with high visibility and good reputation, such as making Disneyland and Shanghai Wildlife Park “good places for parents and children”; Make Lavender Park and Xingyuan Park “a good place to enjoy flowers and birds”; Turn Disney Town, Shendi Cultural Center and Datong Music Valley into “good places for cultural performances”; Make Iolai Outlets a “good place for shopping and leisure”. In the future, the resort also plans to launch more special products of “tourism+food” and “tourism+accommodation” to provide tourists with a more convenient and comfortable travel and holiday experience.
Shanghai Lavender Park, also located in Shanghai International Tourism Resort, was awarded the 4A-level scenic spot this year, with a total area of more than 1 million square meters. It has built viewing and experience facilities such as lavender flower fields, rose fields, parent-child play interactive areas, camping bases, etc. It has successfully held the “Shanghai Lavender Festival” for three consecutive years, receiving nearly 300,000 tourists every year, which is well received by the general public and tourists. It has become one of the three major flower festivals in Shanghai, and it is also regularly launched by the resort from May to June every year.
Promote tourism integration in the Yangtze River Delta.
Yao Jianfeng, deputy director of the Shanghai International Tourism Resort Management Committee, said that in the past three years, the Management Committee has carried out in-depth cooperation with relevant units in building a world-famous tourist city, and has been closely linked with departments such as culture and tourism, commerce and sports, as well as Sheshan National Tourism Resort, Chongming World-class Ecological Island and Lingang Area, which have jointly amplified the brand effect of urban culture and made positive contributions to attracting more domestic and foreign tourists to Shanghai.
Not only that, Shanghai International Tourism Resort also focuses on the Yangtze River Delta, strives to build a platform for tourism integration cooperation and exchange in the Yangtze River Delta, and continues to promote tourism integration cooperation and exchange in the Yangtze River Delta. According to reports, the Management Committee actively assumed the responsibility of the lead unit of the Tourism Professional Committee of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Economic Coordination Committee, successfully held the Yangtze River Delta Tourism Development Forum for two consecutive years, and cooperated with Shendi Group and related units to promote the establishment of the Yangtze River Delta theme park industry alliance and the Yangtze River Delta eco-tourism area alliance, and launched projects such as the Yangtze River Delta urban tourism development report and the Yangtze River Delta tourism passport, which made useful explorations for the high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta tourism.
In just three years, I have achieved remarkable results. When talking about the future development direction, Yao Jianfeng said that as an important tourism cultural function area, we will deeply grasp the urban, comprehensive and international characteristics of Shanghai tourism in accordance with the deployment requirements of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and the municipal government and the spirit of the municipal tourism development conference, and strive to build an important platform for festivals such as tourism, culture, shopping, film and television and sports in Shanghai, an important platform for tourism cultural cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta, and a “tourism core service circle and tourism function expansion circle” in the resort.
In the future, Shanghai International Tourism Resort will continue to forge ahead and be a dream catcher in the new era. (Ding Ning)