Shanghai World Expo Fair - Essay Example

1 According to the Fourth Meeting of Shanghai World Expo Organizing Committee, different activities are being mapped out, which will involve series of activities like exhibitions, cultural shows, business demonstrations, mascot demonstration, tourism programs, and a host of other activities like fashion shows and talent exhibitions (Shanghai Daily, 2010). Analysis of Target Regions The officials are using the past figures of recent domestic tourists from the 12 provinces of China to Shanghai to gauge how many participants will attend the exhibition. Lately, provinces like Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Beijing and so on have witnessed exodus of their residents to Shanghai on different kinds of visits. Hence, the promotions to increase the number of attendance have been concentrated in these target regions. Financial Relevance of the Key Target Regions Without doubt the organizing committees and the officials in charge of the Expo 2010 hope that the financial expectation from places like Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which produce about 20% of the entire China’s GDP. The available statistics reveal that over 100 million tourists are expected to travel out of these three provinces in a year, with a combined expenses of up to 60 billion RMB. So, officials are looking into cashing on this mass movement of tourists within the country. And there is every possibility that this would make the tourism business profitable in China within this period of Expo 2010 (Expo 2010 China, 2010). Development of Target Domestic Audience The Expo 2010 is a rare event that China has organized in recent years: different areas of businesses will be on display. Most especially, there are going to be exhibitions on technology, science, engineering, business innovations, manufacturing products, fashion and so on (CCTV, 2010). 2 The organizers believe that Expo 2010 will draw an unprecedented number of business persons, manufacturers and industry players into China. Business administrators, technical staff and other employees from around the globe will also be attracted to the Expo. During this period students from Universities, high schools and others will be on vacation. Local government observation group will be around from every part of China to witness the exhibition. OVERSEAS TOURIST Recently, Shanghai has been witnessed a surge in the number of overseas visitors. This is in accordance with the Chinese government plan to reach the objective of attracting more than 3.5 million overseas visitors. Analysis of Overseas Target Market (according to the Fourth Meeting of Shanghai 2010 World Expo Organizing Committee). Though recent analyses have pointed to the increase in foreign visitors to Shanghai, most of whom are arriving from Hong Kong and other Asian nations. However, tourists from Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean have also shot up lately. These groups of people constitute the overseas target markets. Around 70 million visitors are expected to flock Shanghai from May 1st to October 31st 2010 when the Expo Shanghai is held. The demands from the huge influx of visitors cannot be easily eased by the metropolitan structures in place at the moment, but urban tourism development has grown into a significant size over recent years, which will help the organizers of Expo 2010 achieve their aims and the promising growth it ought to bring into the region. When the event is over, part of the areas earmarked for the pavilion development is expected to be used as tourist spots for people to visit (CCTV, 2010). 3 The National Tourism Administration has set 2010 as the Year of World Expo Tourism. During campaign to promote the Expo, 60 South Koreans were Chinas first overseas tourists of the year. Organizers also expect South Koreans to flock into the country during the exhibition. Their expectation was that it would be like when Beijing Games were hosted some years before. This points to the fact that Expo 2010 will create a kind of Asian family that consist of all the countries in the Far East, including Japan. Although, Hong Kong is closely linked to China, this Expo is expected to also boost the economic activity in the country as many overseas tourists or participants will troop into China from Hong Kong (CCTV, 2010). Expos entertainment extravaganza At the 2010 World Expo visitors will be treated to variety of entertainment: which varies from the traditional Asian dances and cultural displays to Arab arts exhibition and European cultural shows. In fact, the participants are going to be entertained by different artistes drawn from many countries of the world. According to the organizers, this will give everyone at Expo 2010 a local flavor in their own cultural shows and exhibitions. Germany, in particular, will demonstrate some cultural shows at the Expo in order to highlight European arts (Shanghai Daily, 2010). The famous artist Franz Andre Heller and architect Mark Fisher were recommended by the Federal Chancellor of Austria, Wolfgang Schussel, for an exhibition of sculptures. Maximilian F. Huber, an official in charge of the "African Footprint" tour through Europe, and showed interest in a cultural programme to give Shanghai the true taste of Africa cultural heritage. African drums, soulful saxophones and haunting pennywhistles, dances such as traditional gumboot and hip-hop pantsulas, are all part of "African Footprint." (World Expo, 2010). 4 North and South American countries are more than excited about the Expo. Professional troupes in the United States and Canada have shown interest to partake at the Expo, while Brazil planned to stage interesting dances like samba, parades and percussion demonstration. In mid-March 2010, Shanghai began to turn green. The organizer of the World Expo recently issued green travelling guidelines in collaboration with some green activists by encouraging residents to use public transport or walk around. This will reduce the amount of green gas emitted from cars and other vehicles. Chinese people are encouraged to use trains and coaches to the Expo venues. Foreign visitors are encouraged to support the organizers plan to make the Expo green by purchasing their carbon credits for the amount of green house gas emitted by their planes and other transports till they reach the Expo venues. Each foreign participant can know how much carbon credits they should by using the online calculator provided by the Expo organizers. For the fact that many people use transport cards, it could be a good way to change peoples behavior, Zhang said. Expo visitors will buy carbon credits, online, the money will be used to help China’s environment by planting trees in Shanghai and all of the 16 Yangtze Delta cities that recently drove across the cities to promote the green guidelines (Newspaper Travel Tourism Vacation, 2010) The Impacts of Expo 2010 No doubt, Expo 2010 will have some positive impacts on China and other countries in the Far East region. The tourism businesses in China will pick up briskly during these periods, while employment and housing property will hike accordingly. This will even increase the economic progress of Shanghai, a major contributor to China’s GDP. The environmental guidelines are expected to create awareness for Green Revolution for both the locals and the foreign visitors. Once again, China will be able to improve its standing as a nation of commerce, and operating in an environmentally friendly atmosphere. 5 Hong Kong also stands to gain a lot from Expo 2010, in the sense that a great number of foreign visitors heading to China will like to make a stop-over in Hong Kong. This, invariably, will help pump some money into Hong Kong’s businesses. Moreover, other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea would also benefit from Expo 2010. 6 References: 1. Newspaper Tourism Travel Vacation. 2010. Shanghai world expo 2010. [online]. Available at http://www.turizmtatilseyahat.com/en/shanghai-world-expo-2010.htm. Accessed 30 April 2010. 2. Shanghai Daily. 2010. Expo 2010. [online]. Available at http://en.expo2010.cn/a/20090409/000004.htm. Accessed 30 April 2010. 3. CCTV. 2010. Shanghai expo 2010. [online]. Available at http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20100507/102977.shtm Accessed 30 April 2010. 4. Expo 2010 China. 2010. Expo 2010. [online]. Available at www.expo2010China.com. Accessed 30 April 2010. 5. World Expo 2010 Shanghai China. 2010. Communication & Promotion Plan. A communique approved by the Fourth Meeting of Shanghai 2010 World Expo Organizing Committee. Accessed 30 April 2010. Read More