by FANG Zhuoran

Shanghai is increasingly using large-scale cultural, sports and entertainment attractions to drive consumer spending, as the city looks to sustain its consumption rebound and sharpen its appeal as a consumer hub.

One of the most prominent examples is the Shanghai Museum's upcoming On Top of the World Tree: Ancient Civilizations of the Americas, a major exhibition two years in the making that officials hope will build on the momentum created by last year’s Ancient Egypt show.

How major cultural, sports and entertainment attractions can drive consumer spending was discussed during Shanghai's annual policy meetings, often referred to as the city's 'two sessions', where boosting consumption was highlighted as a priority for the year ahead.

One attraction, citywide spillovers

"A successful super IP creates spillover effects across tourism, retail and services," said CHU Xiaobo, a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and director of the Shanghai Museum.

The Ancient Egypt exhibition, which closed last August after a 13-month run, attracted more than 2.77 million visitors and generated 760 million yuan in direct revenue. It also drove an estimated 35 billion yuan in related spending on transport, accommodation, dining and shopping.

Nearly 70% of visitors came from outside Shanghai, and more than two-thirds travelled to the city specifically for the exhibition, underscoring its pull as a destination rather than a local cultural event.

Museum officials said the exhibition’s scale and curatorial independence helped extend visitor stays, a model they are replicating for the upcoming Americas show, which sources artefacts from museums across Latin America. Organizers estimate that viewing the full exhibition at a modest pace could take up to 12 hours.

Beyond museums: a growing IP portfolio

Cultural exhibitions are only one part of Shanghai's strategy.

Last summer, a Louis Vuitton-branded "giant ship" installation in the Nanjing West Road shopping district lifted foot traffic and sales at nearby malls and restaurants.

Family tourism has also gained momentum with the opening of Legoland Shanghai Resort, the first Legoland theme park in China. Within four months, the park surpassed one million visitors, with more than half arriving from outside the city, boosting demand for transport, hotels and catering in the surrounding district.

Long-running attractions continue to anchor visitor flows. The Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix drew more than 220,000 spectators in 2025, setting a new attendance record. Overseas visitors doubled from a year earlier, while nearby commercial areas benefited from ticket-linked promotions.

Together, these attractions helped lift Shanghai's retail sales to 1.66 trillion yuan last year, up 4.6% year on year, reversing a previous decline.

Turning visitor traffic into repeat spending

Despite their immediate impact, officials warn that blockbuster attractions can produce short-lived bursts of activity if not integrated more deeply into the city's commercial fabric.

WANG Jieming, a district regulator, has argued that better links between major shopping streets and surrounding backstreets — often home to cafés, small eateries and independent shops — are key to spreading visitor flows more evenly.

Shanghai has begun experimenting with ways to extend IPs beyond their original venues. During the 2025 Formula One season, a "Checkered Flag Carnival" at the North Bund waterfront attracted nearly 90,000 visitors, expanding the race’s commercial footprint beyond the circuit.

CHEN Le, a member of the city's political advisory body, has proposed turning parts of the West Bund into a permanent cluster combining sports events, markets, art exhibitions and live performances, and developing standardized "event-plus-tourism" routes to broaden the reach of major attractions.

For Shanghai, the challenge is ensuring that each surge of attention translates into repeat visits and longer-term spending.