Our reporter learned from the 2018 Talks on People's Livelihood, a radio program broadcast by the Shanghai People's Radio Station, that the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration is going to finish upgrading its 20 tourist service centers this year to make them the city’s “parlor”.

According to Xu Weiwan, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, such most-frequented destinations as the Huangpu riverside, major tourist resorts, cruise terminals, countryside parks, as well as airports and railway stations, were the focus when the Administration decided where to deploy these comprehensive tourist service centers.

The upgrade project focuses on three parts, namely, comprehensive functions, smart services and unified visual identity. The newly upgraded tourist service centers will provide not only traditional tourist information but also such services as mobile phone charging, clean water, wheelchair rental and defibrillator first aid equipment for the convenience of residents.

Smart services are also a highlight of the new comprehensive tourist service centers, which will capitalize on modern technologies like artificial intelligence, big data and multilingual translation, to provide more comprehensive, accurate and timely tourist information service. Some service centers will be equipped with high-tech facilities like AR/VR to enhance interaction and create convincing virtual reality.

Moreover, a unified visual identity also needs to be in place. The Administration will upgrade the existing identity system of the tourist service centers and create a new and unified visual identity in terms of the main logo, the outer appearance of the centers, signage and name badges, so as to provide a unified vision.

According to Xu, the whole project is advancing smoothly. Construction has been completed on the Huangpu Shiliupu Pier and Xuhui Riverside comprehensive tourist service centers and they are open to the public now. Construction of other service centers is also well underway.