SHANGHAI, Jan. 10 -- Tourism Plus Shanghai 2025, a comprehensive annual tourism expo, is scheduled to take place from March 30 to April 3 this year. It is expected to reach a record scale amid a growing China travel wave.

Spanning three venues across the city, the event will have a total exhibition area of 700,000 square meters and over 6,000 exhibitors, and is expected to draw more than 450,000 visitors from over 140 countries and regions.

According to the organizers, the expo will feature four major exhibitions covering 14 key industries, including tourism, hospitality, food and drink, retail, commercial real estate and health, across 48 niche sectors.

Exhibitors from countries such as Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Vietnam have already registered for this year's event.

After China expanded its visa-free entry policy in November 2024, "China travel" went viral on global social media, particularly in nearby countries like Japan and the ROK.

With more flights and improved infrastructure and services, weekend tourism in the eastern metropolis of Shanghai is becoming a trend among travelers from the two countries.

From November to near the end of December last year, 363,000 tourists from the ROK and Japan arrived in or departed from two international airports in Shanghai, according to the Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection. The figure increased by more than 20 percent from the total for September and October.