|
|
|
Yeosu Expo off to slow start |
|
|
Dancers and other delegates of the Brunei Pavilion pose with Korean visitors as part of events to celebrate ‘Brunei Day” at the Yeosu Expo, Sunday.
/ Yonhap
|
By Lee Hyo-sik
There is an old saying that starting off well is half the battle. This perfectly describes the situation for the Yeosu Expo, which just kicked off its 93-day run Saturday without a major hitch.
For the first two days since opening to the public, the majority of visitors have given satisfactory reviews to Korea’s first expo in 20 years.
Despite the initial hype, less than 40,000 visitors, mostly Koreans, visited the expo venue on each day over the weekend, far less than the 100,000 daily visitors targeted by the organizers. The organizing committee aims to draw a total of 10 million to the small southwestern port city in South Jeolla Province, during its three-month run.
``We admit that we are having a slow start,’’ said an official at the Organizing Committee for EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea. ``We had about 35,900 visitors on opening day. But more Koreans and non-Koreans will come to Yeosu in the coming days for the state-of-the-art facilities, and cultural performances and music concerts.’’
The official said when the summer vacation goes into full swing in July, the number of expo guests will easily exceed 100,000 per day.
Those who came to tour the 80 exhibition halls at over the weekend showed a relatively high level of satisfaction.
A female middle-school student from Yeosu said she had lots of fun with her friends at the expo Saturday.
``It is really easy for me to go see the expo since I live in Yeosu. I was not able to tour all the exhibition halls. But there are many things that caught my eye, such as the dancing robots. I strongly recommend students of my age to come and enjoy what the expo has to offer,’’ the student said.
While some complained that they had to wait in a long line to enter the aquarium and other popular exhibition halls, others were dissatisfied with the quality of food and the service at restaurants and other amenities.
``I wanted to grab something to eat at a restaurant. But I couldn’t because the place ran out of food. It should have prepared more food than it did in anticipation of larger crowds,’’ a middle-aged man from Seoul said.
There were more senior citizens waiting in long lines to get into exhibition halls than younger people as most of them did not make a reservation in advance.
``I did not make a reservation for tickets to pavilions because I do not know how to do it on the Internet or using a smartphone. I bet it is pretty much the same for other seniors,’’ said a 63-year-old woman from Seoul.
``But young people know how to secure spots in advance. I think organizers should do more to give the elderly a more convenient method to get into the exhibition halls,’’ she said.
In anticipation of such problems, expo organizers have been encouraging visitors to make a reservation to more conveniently tour exhibition facilities. ``We strongly encourage people to secure a spot in advance. Otherwise, they may have to wait in a long line for hours. Our most eight popular attractions in particular may be inaccessible to those visiting without a reservation.’’
Visitors can reserve an entrance ticket at the expo’s official home page (http://www.expo2012.kr) or download a smartphone application from the website.
Expecting a large number of visitors on weekends and public holidays, the organizing committee said it will allow them to enter the expo site from 8 a.m., an hour earlier than originally scheduled. But exhibition halls will continue to open at 9 a.m., giving visitors time to tour the 2.72-kilometer venue and appreciate the ocean view.
The Yeosu Expo, which will runs through Aug. 12, celebrated ``Brunei Day’’ Sunday. An official event was held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the International Pavilion to inform visitors of what the Southeast Asian country with a population of 400,000 is all about.
Traditional Brunei music and dance performances were showcased at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., to entertain tens of thousands of expo visitors. Rock group Buhwal held a concert at 7:30 p.m. The Big-O show, one of the must-see performances at the Expo, started at 9:30 p.m. and lasted for 30 minutes. |
|
