Shanghai’s new plan to lure foreign tourists: mega-events and Peppa Pig

When Orrawan Khansamree and her husband decided to visit Shanghai this month, the couple wanted to see one place above all – and it was not any of the city’s historic landmarks.

“We’re visiting Disneyland,” said Khansamree, who is originally from Thailand. “It’s the biggest of its kind in the world.”

For the couple, Shanghai offers an enticing combination of huge entertainment complexes and affordable hotels and restaurants. That made the city a more attractive option than other popular destinations in the region, such as Tokyo.

“I will come again if more world-class parks are built,” she said.

Travellers like Khansamree are exactly the kind of visitor Shanghai is targeting with a new three-year plan to boost inbound tourism, which departs from previous strategies that focused on landmarks such as the Bund and the skyscrapers of Lujiazui.

The plan, which the municipal government released last month, aims to position the city of 25 million as China’s “premier inbound tourism gateway” and take full advantage of the country’s looser visa policies.