Authorities in Shanghai said tourist spending in the city dropped eight percent from the previous year to 296.8 billion yuan, or roughly US $47.5 billion, partly due to the government's drive against over spending by officials.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Statistic Bureau, while total domestic tourist spending in the city fell in 2013, the number of domestic tourists visiting Shanghai increased 3.6 percent.

Like Us on Facebook

The figure, one analyst said, means government officials were top spenders before the anti-corruption drive was intensified by the central government, barring officials from spending too much on luxury and travel.

The bureau's 2013 Shanghai Tourism Report also showed that more regular tourists and fewer government officials visited Shanghai last year, resulting to the drop in tourism spending in the city.

The previous data showed that government officials were the number one driver of Shanghai's domestic tourism.

"It only showed that government officials were top spenders last year," one analyst said.

Yang Yong, a professor at East China Normal University's Department of Tourism, said the government crackdown against overspending by officials resulted to fewer official delegations to the city.

From the 363.74 yuan spent per tourist in Shanghai in 2012, the data showed that each tourist in the city last year spent only 271.41 yuan, or a drop of 92.33 yuan per person.

The drop in tourist spending last year had taken a toll on the profit of Shanghai's star-rated hotels, said Yang.

Profits of the 271 star-rated hotels in Shanghai dropped 7.7 percent from a year ago to 1.26 billion yuan last year, even as revenue increased by about 1.7 percent. However, Yang said the increase in revenue was minimal compared with the revenue in 2012.

While the number of tourists visiting Shanghai dropped in 2013, the tourism bureau said the number of Shanghai residents who traveled abroad last year went up 25 percent. The bureau said a total of 6.87 million city residents traveled abroad last year.

TagsShanghai Tourism, Tourism in Shanghai, Tourist Spending in Shanghai, Tourism Shanghai