In the vast sea of Chinese businesses that are finding creative ways to attract nighttime spending, an ocean park in Shanghai stands out from the rest as it opens its aquarium floors to overnight campers.
Inviting visitors to stay up late surrounded by the glimmer of seawater and the movement of marine wildlife, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park has launched an overnight stay program in its underwater corridor.
"I was very impressed and this was my first overnight stay in an oceanarium," said Zhao Zhong, a visitor.
Overnight stays were originally targeted at parents and children, but the service quickly caught on with young adults. The park soon grasped the market potential and launched an overnight program for adults for the first time this year, fulfilling many childhood dreams.
Seizing the opportunity to expand their offerings has helped the ocean park to attract more visitors.
"In order to meet the diverse needs of consumers this year, we've created seven major night economy products, including the night tour, overnight stay, and banquet dinner. At present, our peak daily passenger flow for this summer vacation has reached 40,000, a 15-percent increase year on year. The number of people staying overnight has exceeded 10,000 this summer," said Wu Lejie, marketing director of Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park.
The program has become a shining example of the many innovative consumption models that have appeared in Shanghai and across China.
"During this period, we've seen merchants pull out all the stops to break down the barriers of industries and to create the effect that one plus one is greater than two through integrated development of business models, so as to boost consumption. Meanwhile, it is also in line with the guidelines announced by the State Council not long ago on boosting consumption," said Lao Guoling, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
China's State Council, the country's cabinet, issued guidelines to promote the high-quality development of consumption of services sector and expand opening-up of the fields including telecommunications, education, elderly care, and medical care, Xinhua News Agency reported early this month.
So far this year, consumption in the Chinese market has continued to grow. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows total retail sales of consumer goods in the first half of the year reached more than 23 trillion yuan (about 3.3 trillion U.S. dollars), an increase of 3.7-percent year on year.
Consumption is also shifting from quantity-oriented to higher-quality products. A government document said that improving services, enriching consumption and optimizing the overall environment, can help stimulate and drive the economy.
Aquarium camping among ways Shanghai businesses boost nighttime economy
