Customers dine at a restaurant in Shanghai, Feb 4, 2025. [Photo/VCG]
Given the clear success of last year's consumption vouchers, Shanghai will continue to issue vouchers in the areas of dining, tourism, movies, and sports this year to boost consumption, an official announced at a municipal news conference held on Monday.
Zhu Min, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said that this round of consumption vouchers will amount to 500 million yuan ($68.4 million), with 360 million yuan allocated for dining, 90 million yuan for tourism, 30 million yuan for movies, and 20 million yuan for sports.
Consumers can sign up for the participation in the lottery for dining and tourism consumption vouchers starting from Feb 22. All vouchers will be redeemable starting from March 1 and will be fully distributed by June.
The denominations of dining consumption vouchers vary, ranging from 90 yuan off for spending 300 yuan to 400 yuan off for spending 1,000 yuan.
Tourism consumption vouchers for accommodation offer discounts ranging from 90 yuan off for spending 300 yuan to 360 yuan off for spending 1,200 yuan.
Additionally, tour vouchers are distributed at some A-level tourist attractions and sightseeing bus tours. The discounts range from 15 yuan off for spending 30 yuan to 75 yuan off for spending 150 yuan.
Movie consumption vouchers include single tickets for 20/30 yuan and couple tickets for 40/60 yuan.
Sports consumption vouchers vary, offering discounts from 5 yuan off for spending 10 yuan to 80 yuan off for spending 200 yuan. There are also special vouchers for specific sports activities and groups.
Dining and travel consumption vouchers are distributed via UnionPay QuickPass, Alipay, and WeChat Pay, while movie vouchers are issued on limited bases through ticketing platforms Maoyan and Taopiaopiao. The sports vouchers are distributed through the fitness map WeChat mini-program developed by the Shanghai Sports Bureau, starting from March 1 at 8 am, 12 pm, and 6 pm daily.
Zhu encouraged all businesses involved in distributing service vouchers in 2024 to continue registering. Companies not previously involved in 2024 can submit their registration details for review and, upon approval, be promptly added to the list of participating merchants.
