Around 16.76 million tourists visited Shanghai, spending around 19 billion yuan ($2.64 billion) in the city during the recent Spring Festival, according to big data that monitors the city's tourism statistics.

During the eight-day holiday from Feb 10 to 17, the number of visitors increased by around 50 percent from the previous year, pushing the average room occupancy rate of star-rated hotels in the city up by 53 percent, a year-on-year increase of 15 percentage points, data showed.

To ensure a rich tourist experience, Shanghai put forward more than 200 cultural and tourism activities during the holiday.

Major art venues, such as Shanghai Museum and the China Art Palace, launched a series of cultural and art exhibitions, while a total of 380 performances in 39 venues.

The city's major scenic spots, such as Shanghai Disney Resort, Haichang Ocean Park, and the Oriental Pearl Tower, launched a series of Spring Festival-themed activities to enhance family interaction, providing an immersive festival experience. The Shanghai Zoo, Shanghai Botanical Garden, and Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden also planned a variety of activities to allow residents and tourists to experience the Chinese New Year in green spaces.

In addition, tours around Shanghai's two major rivers, the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek were also popular among both locals and tourists.

Shanghai Disney Resort hosts a series of Spring Festival-themed activities during the holiday. [Photo/eastday.com]

To ensure expats and international travelers enjoy a happy Chinese New Year, the city's authority prepared English-version Spring Festival couplets and recorded a short video in celebration of the occasion. Some communities also invited foreign residents to spend the Spring Festival together, participating in traditional folk activities and more than 30 performances such as the ballet The Nutcracker and the Broadway classic musical The Sound of Music.

Source: eastday.com