International cultural events and relaxed visa rules are giving Shanghai’s economy an additional impetus after the financial and commercial hub of mainland China reported buoyant growth in its major hi-tech industries.
The China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF), featuring 1,400 shows from operas and symphonies to ballets and musicals, generated consumption worth 4.4 billion yuan (US$620 million), up 10.2 per cent on year, according to the organisers.
The month-long festival ended on Thursday, with overseas tourists – which included those from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – accounting for 12.5 per cent of the total audience, compared to 7.8 per cent last year.
“We are offering a one-stop shop to offer tourists not only art shows, but services to meet all their leisure demands such as food, hotel, transport, sightseeing, consumption and entertainment,” said Li Ming, president of the CSIAF, a unit of the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism, which hosted the festival.
He added that efforts to link cultural events with retailers, tourist destinations and service providers represented a new business model as Shanghai builds itself into a world-class art hub.
About 60 per cent of the major performances during this year’s CSIAF featured foreign organisations and artists, including the Wiener Philharmoniker, Stuttgart Ballet and American violinist Joshua Bell.
