Expo site to be turned into ocean resort complex


The Expo 2012 Yeosu will wrap up its three-month run on Sunday, with the number of visitors expected to reach 8 million as targeted by the organizing committee.

Dubbed the first-ever world fair held on water, the Yeosu Expo opened on May 12 in the southern coastal town of Yeosu, about 455 kilometers south of Seoul.

It was the second international fair hosted by Korea, after the Daejeon Expo in 1993. As of Thursday, the accumulated number of visitors was 7.35 million.

In the early days after the opening, concerns were raised over the lower-than-expected number of visitors. Until mid June, the figure remained at about 2.3 million.

Then the government stepped up efforts to draw visitors, launching a new pricing system for tickets and adding performances by K-pop stars into festival programs.

The daily visitors hovering at 50,000-60,000 started to increase to 100,000 from July. This month, around 270,000 people have visited the venue site every day. 

Given that Yeosu is a small city of only 300,000 people located in the southernmost part of the nation, Bureau International des Expositions secretary general Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales had earlier said 7 million visitors would be considered a success.

The Yeosu Expo, among others, distinguishes itself from previous events by being the first world fair to be held on the water. There were some events themed around the ocean, but the Yeosu Eopo is the first to have the ocean as it venue.

The entire expo site for 80 exhibition halls stretches out alongside the sea with promenades and exhibit spaces extending all the way to the island of Odongdo and the seawalls.

The Yeosu Expo also received positive reviews for highlighting global issues like climate change and the protection of the ocean through story-telling events.

For instance, a pavilion for climate and environment offered visitors an opportunity to experience a glacier age that could follow rapid climate change.

Climate change experts who participated in a recent international forum at the expo venue said that the exhibition hall explains the seriousness of the issue in a way that is easy to understand but still powerful.

The BIE chief also called the Yeosu Expo “the most excellent exhibition that better represents its theme than other fairs.”

Despite the expo’s success in differentiating itself in content, its operation leaves some room for improvement.

One of the major complaints was the reservation system for tickets.

The organizing committee adopted a reservation system for seven popular pavilions, including the nation’s largest aquarium, in order to prevent over crowding.

However, they had to abolish the system, as visitors ― most of them one-day visitors ― complained that tickets sold out too early.

The committee had also planned to fix the ticket prices, but started offering some discount tickets more recently, raising complaints among early visitors.

Another issue is that the economy of Yeosu and neighboring areas may not have seen much benefit during the 93-day Expo period.

Most of the visitors did not stay long after looking around the expo site. Especially those who drove to the site hurried back to home in fear of heavy traffic.

Venders in the region were also not well prepared to serve visitors, with some of them offering services at higher prices than usual and refusing to take reservations.

Over the past three months, less than half of the lodging facilities were filled with travelers.

After the Expo ends on Sunday, the city plans to assess the damage vendors in the region suffered and take follow-up measures.

The Expo organizing committee recently submitted a plan for the future use of the expo site to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

With related discussions still underway, the ministry proposed nurturing the site into an international ocean resort complex during a recent conference at the National Assembly.

According to the tentative plan, some representative exhibition halls such as the aquarium and the floating stage “The O” will continue to be used.

Other pavilions will house shopping malls specialized in ocean leisure activities and seafood restaurants from countries like France, Japan and China.

Using the existing cruise infrastructure on the site, the ministry also plans to serve cruise ships and yachts from neighboring countries like Japan and China.

Other refreshment facilities such as hot spring and water pensions are expected to be situated within a planned healthcare town at the site, according to the ministry.

Under a special law on the expo site operation enacted in December, the ministry could establish a new venture for the business or share the operation with the private sector.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)