Almost 5 million tourists from China and abroad visited Shanghai during the National Day "Golden Week," up about 7 percent from the same period last year, tourism authorities said yesterday.

And the tourists brought about 3.8 billion yuan (US$555 million) in revenue to the city, up about 15 percent from last year, the authorities said.

The local immigration authority said while more visitors came to China’s mainland, fewer Chinese mainland tourists flew from Shanghai overseas for the national week-long holiday compared with last year.

The Pudong International Airport immigration authority said the number of mainland tourists flying overseas from the airport dropped by 30 percent compared to the same holiday last year. There was a substantial fall in the number of mainland tourists to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, which were normally popular Asian destinations for mainland tourists during holiday seasons.

"The decrease is obvious and the tightening economic situation would have discouraged Chinese mainland tourists from overseas travel," said Liu Youping, a police officer at Pudong International Airport.

However, the incoming passenger flow from overseas increased by 20 percent from last year’s holiday period.

The immigration authority estimated that the week-long holiday saw 320,000 passengers flying in and out through the city’s two airports by yesterday, the official end of the holiday. The increase in arrivals made the overall passenger flow about the same as last year.

The Hongqiao Airport immigration authority said more tourists from South Korea landed at the airport during the holiday, mostly for short trips on the mainland.

The land transport network including transit buses, Metros and long-distance buses handled more than 90 million passengers during the holiday as of late yesterday, which was a new record, said the city transport authority.

The Shanghai Tourism Administrative Commission said short-term tours were more popular among local tourists this year with most people opting to drive for a short trip.

"Vehicles going out of Shanghai increased about 17 percent over the last National Day holiday," said Li Ping, an official with the commission.

About 118,000 tourists went to the suburbs or surrounding provinces through the Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center. The Oriental Land, Zhouzhuang Town, Wuzhen Town, Zhujiajiao Town and the Shanghai Wildlife Park were the five hottest scenic spots for one-day tour packages.

Tianmu Lake in Jiangsu Province, Hangzhou City and Yandang Mountain in Zhejiang Province were the most popular two-day tours, said the center.

Yuyuan Garden was the most popular scenic spot downtown as it held the "China Day" activity during the holiday. More than 2.1 million tourists went to the garden which has a 450-year history, said the commission.