Cruise passengers enjoy Shanghai during the two-day holiday

As soon as Mein Schiff 5 arrived at the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal on Saturday morning , its more than 2,500 passengers kicked off their two-day sightseeing experience in the East China cosmopolitan sights.

These travelers, coming from European countries including Germany, Austria and Switzerland, were greeted with effusive dragon and lion dances, intangible cultural heritage experiences and other special gifts.

"For long, Shanghai has been the first choice for inbound tourists. Since the launch of inbound tourism promotion campaign Visit Shanghai in December 2023, the city has seen a rapid recovery in outbound visitors," Yang Jing, an official from the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism was quoted as saying by local news portal ThePaper.cn.

Among all inbound trips, the recovery of cruise trips has been extremely noteworthy, according to Yang.

From January to March, ten cruise ships visited Shanghai and passenger trips to the city amounted to 22,379. The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism expected figures to reach 18 cruise ships and 40,306 passenger trips, respectively, throughout the year.

It is the third time for Michael Scarbath, a tourist from Germany, to visit China. He and his family immediately headed for the city's iconic Yuyuan Garden as soon as they left the cruise terminal.

"Yuyuan Garden is the must-go place for me each time. The architecture in the garden is so marvelous that I would like to introduce it to my son. I hope he will like it as well," Scarbath was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency.

"Inbound tourism has recovered to that of 2019 for us in the first three months this year," said Sun Peng, head of inbound tourism with China Tourism Group.

According to Sun, as many as 16 routes to scenic spots across the city with distinctive characteristics are presented to the tourists during their two-day stay in Shanghai.

While TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff 5 visited Shanghai via the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal in Baoshan district, the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal situated in Hongkou district was welcoming the arrival of Silver Shadow on Sunday afternoon with more than 300 passengers onboard.