Foreign tourists satisfied with exhibit reservation system, facilities


YEOSU, South Jeolla Province ― About 36,000 people visited the Expo 2012 Yeosu on the first day of the three-month world fair on Saturday, the expo organizing committee said Sunday.

The figure was a lot less than its projection of 100,000, but the committee expects more visitors when the summer vacation season starts.

“The reason the number of visitors was not as much as we had anticipated is probably because people thought the first day would be very crowded and the price of the ticket was higher than other days on the opening day,” Bureau International des Expositions secretary general Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales said in a press conference on Sunday. Opening day admission tickets were sold at 40,000 won, compared to 33,000 won on normal days.

“Now we have ahead of us three months of operation and the most important thing to assure the success of the expo is to inform the citizens well about the high quality of the expo. The solution to attract more visitors is communication,” Loscertales said.

“The success of the expo depends on the enthusiasm of citizens and the satisfaction of visitors.”

Loscertales said he believed the Yeosu expo site, the way its pavilions are arranged and exhibits are displayed could be a model for future expos.

The BIE secretary general said he found the opening ceremony on Friday night “appropriate, spectacular, very well-adapted to the nature of this expo, very high-tech, and at the same time friendly and intimate.”

Foreign spectators like Mariana Medaglia and Leonardo Sobreira from Brazil were impressed with the exhibit reservation system, which kept them from waiting in long queues.

Visitors can make reservations for exhibits at eight pavilions including the Korea Pavilion through the Internet, smartphones and kiosks on the expo site. The Aquarium admits only people who booked in advance.

“I have been to many expos before, and the Yeosu Expo is relatively small, but it is beautiful, well-organized, cozier and better to get around without getting exhausted,” Medaglia said.

Sobreira said he loved the performances by clowns and entertainers on the streets while he waited to enter exhibits.

The couple said, however, booking a hotel in Yeosu was extremely difficult because the hotel websites were only in Korean.

Audi Taher from Senegal also said the Yeosu Expo, though small in size, was “very pretty.”

“All the facilities are so beautifully built, and the shows are amazing. The guides are very friendly and helpful too,” he said.

“I liked the Korea Pavilion and the Tunisia pavilion the most.”

Anton and Ivan from Russia admired the 218-meter-long light-emitting-diode Expo Digital Gallery above their heads.

“I wish they had more digital galleries like this. It really brightens up the expo site,” Anton said.

Some of the spectators, however, found more could be done to improve the expo guidance and the amenities.

“I wish they provided information near the entrance about what to expect at the country pavilions,” said Lee Soo-jin, who came from Daegu.

“A few of the national pavilions had interesting contents, but most of them seemed to be aimed at selling souvenirs.”

Park Man-soo from Gwangyang was frustrated as he had to wait for an hour for lunch at a samgyetang (chicken stew with ginseng) restaurant.

“None of the expo guides and volunteers I spoke to knew where the restaurant was, and when I finally found it and took a number, there were 40 people waiting ahead of me,” he said.

Chung In-seop, who traveled from Jeonju, was disappointed at another restaurant because it didn’t accept credit cards.

“I paid 40,000 won for the admission today because it is the opening day, and I don’t think the expo is fully ready yet. How can a restaurant not take credit cards?” he said.

Darrell from California couldn’t find what he wanted at the gift shop.

“The first thing I did at the expo was to hit the souvenir shop, but they didn’t have any nice t-shirts or shot glasses,” he said.

Visitors began to swarm in from 8 a.m. during the weekend at the waterfront expo site in the southern coastal town.

The Aquarium and the DSME Marine Robot Pavilion were the most popular attractions, with afternoon’s exhibits fully booked by around 3 p.m.

The expo’s first visitor was a 39-year-old Japanese man named Futakami Atsushi.

“Mr. Futakami is a self-acclaimed expo enthusiast who has seen more than 100 expos since the Kobe expo in 1981,” said Cho Yong-hwan, chief of public relations at the expo organizing committee.

“He had waited at the front entrance from 3:50 a.m.”

Although the exhibit halls open at 9 a.m., the committee opened the expo site an hour earlier to give visitors more time to look around the 250,000-square-meter site.

The committee said it will continue to open the site at 8 a.m. on weekends and national holidays.

Cho said the committee expects the daily number of visitors to reach up to 250,000 during weekends.

“We have internal plans on how to handle up to 300,000 visitors, and we will decide on the maximum number of visitors we can accept,” he said.

About 1.1 million admission tickets have been sold so far through advanced reservation. Public institutions and schools have informed that they will purchase another 800,000 tickets for group visits.

Saturday’s main events included the opening of the United Nations Pavilion, performances by Indonesia and Cambodia, and the Big Wave Concert featuring K-pop musicians Wonder Girls, Dynamic Duo and Simon D from Supreme Team in the evening.

Each country is given a national day during the expo for special cultural performances, and Sunday was Brunei’s national day.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)