Tourist spots receive 7.6m visitors

More than 7.6 million people visited tourist attractions and sightseeing destinations in Shanghai over the seven-day National Day holiday, up 10 percent from last year, the city's tourism administration said Monday.

The spike in tourists boosted the city's tourism revenue for the holiday 21.4 percent year-on-year to nearly 7.5 billion yuan ($1.23 billion), according to the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration.

The number of people who took a train to the city this year rose 2.2 percent to 1.95 million.

A total of 812,000 passengers flew into either Shanghai Pudong International or Shanghai Hongqiao International airports over the holiday.

Another 597,000 people arrived in the city on a long-distance bus, 3.8 percent less than in 2012, the administration said. About 9,000 came to Shanghai by ship.

Of all Shanghai's sightseeing spots, tourists most favored Nanjing Road, the Bund and Yuyuan Garden, which received 11.8 million, 8.8 million and 2.38 million tourists respectively over the holiday.

The influx of tourists increased business at local hotels, restaurants, shops and supermarkets, the administration said. The average occupancy rate at hotels across the city reached 55 percent, up 8.2 percentage points from 2012.

Because of the ongoing Shanghai Tourism Festival and special holiday sales, retail sales in 10 major department stores and shopping malls rose 3.94 percent this year to 1.05 billion yuan, according to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.

The extended holiday also benefitted local restaurants, which saw sales of 31 million yuan over the seven days, according to data that the commission collected from 10 major restaurants.

A total of 276,000 travelers flew overseas for the holiday, according to the Shanghai Frontier Inspection Station. South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were the most popular destinations for domestic travelers.