Customers sit in the waiting area in a restaurant in Shanghai. [Photo by Gu Yingjie/english.shanghai.gov.cn]
Shanghai will distribute another round of dining discount vouchers from this weekend to further fuel the city’s catering industry.
The move follows the positive feedback from customers and businesses after the first two rounds of voucher distribution, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce said at a news briefing on Nov 29.
The vouchers will be released on Dec 7, 14 and 28.
Those issued on Dec 7 and 14 will be valid for 10 days, while vouchers distributed on Dec 28 can be used until Jan 12.
The first two rounds of vouchers, distributed since Sept 28, significantly boosted the city’s dining sector.
Total sales of the city’s dine-in businesses hit 58.39 billion yuan ($806.1million) in the period as of Nov 26, up 11.4 percent from the same period last year.
Dining vouchers significantly contributed to the restaurant’s revenue, even in off season, said Cai Mengyun, director of catering services at Sunya Restaurant, which is renowned for its Cantonese cuisine.
She said that the initiative also increased brand awareness, encouraging the restaurant’s core customer base, mainly seniors, to dine at the restaurant regardless of weather while attracting new customers.
Haidilao is among the first group of businesses to apply to join the voucher scheme. [Photo by Gu Yingjie/english.shanghai.gov.cn]
Chen Qiang, a manager from hotpot chain Haidilao, said that during the weekend of Nov 23-24, the restaurant welcomed more than 2,000 customers, with about 15 percent using consumption vouchers for payment.
Sales of cars have also been boosted. As of Nov 28, over 100,000 applications have been filed for car trade-ins or disposals this year, stimulating new car sales of over 20 billion yuan.
,https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20241203/24e7d06860a743f087210fed79e3d0b7.html