Visitors take photos in front of the former Saudi Arabia Pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo 2010, also known as the "moon boat". The building attracted a large number of visitors during the National Day holiday. [Photo/Pudong Times]

Pudong New Area enjoyed a record-breaking National Day holiday last week, with the eastern region of Shanghai enjoying a big increase in tourist numbers and a huge jump in ticket revenues compared to last year.

The 25 Pudong tourist sites that released data reported receiving just fewer than 1.5 million visitors during the week-long holiday, up by 22.96 percent year on year. Their ticket revenues soared 138 percent year on year to 196 million yuan ($29.4 million).

A big part of this increase can be attributed to the "Disney effect", with the newly-opened Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone, where Shanghai Disneyland is situated, attracting 600,000 visitors over the course of the week.

Other attractions in the zone include a shopping village, an ecological park, and an herb garden housing the city's largest lavender field.

Tourists also flocked to see the "moon boat", the striking structure that served as the Saudi Arabia Pavilion during the Shanghai World Expo 2010, which attracted 23,000 tourists, a 22 percent increase on last year. Many of these visitors were looking to have a look around the building before it officially closed on Oct 8.

Boosted by the Shanghai Shopping Festival that ran from Sept 9 to Oct 9, Pudong's sales revenue also reached a record level during this year's Golden Week. The area's 10 shopping malls realized sales revenues of 275 million yuan, up 12.6 percent year on year.