Yeosu Expo to expand horizon for maritime era

Kang Dong-suk, chairman of the Yeosu Expo 2012 Organizing Committee, says the expo will create new horizons for maritime tourism. He said he will make sure that the event will be a festival for all visitors from around the world. / Courtesy of Yeosu Expo By Park Si-soo Kang Dong-suk, chairman of the Yeosu Expo 2012 organizing committee, said the expo will provide an unprecedented opportunity for South Korea to polish its national brand. “There will be no better chance than the Yeosu Expo to upgrade the value of the national brand. It will be a greater opportunity to make Korea known to the world than the Olympics or the World Cup,” Kang said. “Yeosu will emerge as a global marine tourism destination.” He said it will be a festival that will unfold on the ocean with top-quality services and lots of cultural events. “We will make sure that visitors will enjoy the expo as if they are participating in a festival from the moment they enter the site. We are going to make their wait time as short as possible,” Kang said. People from more than 100 countries will experience Korea as the most advanced nation in the expo running for three months, which is nearly three times as long as the World Cup, the chairman said. The expo will be held between May 12 and Aug. 12 in 2012 in the coastal city of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, under the theme, “The Living Ocean and Coast.” As of May 4, 95 countries are confirmed to participate and nine other countries are considering taking part in the event. The organizing committee aims to draw at least 8 million visitors, including 550,000 foreigners. Kang said the expo will help promote and share the country’s knowledge and experience in “green growth” with participating countries, international organizations and companies. “The expo will showcase the wise development of the ocean and coastal areas for sustainable growth of the planet,” he said. The theme is well reflected in the design of the exhibition facilities. The Yeosu Expo will be the first event of this kind that constructs exhibition pavilions on water, a symbol of the harmonious existence of human beings and the ocean. It will also serve as a promotional stage for home-grown information technology. Visitors will be able to book their admission tickets, accommodation and even shop for Yeosu’s specialties online with just a few clicks. On site, the expo will operate a real-time booking and guiding system for smartphones, which will significantly reduce queuing times for visitors. “These will be unprecedented services in the history of expos,” Kang said. From today, with exactly one year remaining until the international festival starts, the chairman said every preparatory step has gone as smoothly as planned and on schedule and everything will be completed by February. The construction of exhibition pavilions and supporting facilities are currently half-done, the organizing committee said. “Everything will be set by February next year,” Kang said. “From March, we will start test-operating all established facilities in a bid to provide perfect service to visitors.” The organizing committee, now located in downtown Seoul, will relocate to Yeosu in July for more efficient control of the project. He said the relocation is a move to seek thorough preparation for the expo by putting committee members closer to the site. “We should be field-oriented,” he said. “We will try to find a recipe for successful hosting of the event through cooperation with regional communities and other resources that have remained unchecked in Seoul.”

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