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Expo Milano 2015 meets first visitor target

Xinhua, June 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Expo Milano 2015, the Italian world exposition, has met its visitors target for the first month and aims for at least 20 million visitors, an official told Xinhua in a recent interview.

In one month since opening on May 1, 2.7 million visitors have passed through the gates of the Expo Milano 2015.

"The results are higher than we expected," event and entertainment general director at the Expo Piero Galli told Xinhua.

Additional contracts have been signed with the authorized resellers with more than 15 million tickets having been sold to date, according to statistics.

"We are extremely satisfied. Looking at the previous editions of world expositions, we know that usually the opening month of an Expo is not the most attended. This means that we expect more visitors in the next weeks with a final target of at least 20 million guests," Galli observed.

He also added than many visitors have planned to return several times to the 1.1 million square meter site, which hosts the pavilions or spaces of more than 140 participant countries and organizations.

Another benefit brought by Expo was increased spending, according to statistics. In Milan, in the first 27 days of May there was a 16 percent increase in credit card transactions over the same month last year.

Galli said the Italian event, which is dedicated to sustainable nutrition and healthy food, has especially focused on creating a sense of joy and safety among visitors, in particular families.

Organizers have defined the Expo Milano 2015 as the "world's largest restaurant."

The site gives visitors the possibility to have dinner at the tens of restaurant in the pavilions and other venues, as well as attend a variety of night performances.

"We think the best way to attract visitors is astonishing them with such a rich offer that they want to come back again and bring here their friends and loved ones," Galli told Xinhua.

Expo in citta (Expo in the city), a project created to involve the entire city in the event for the first time in the history of world expositions, also achieved very positive results, according to the first month's statistics.

More than 1.5 million people participated in more than 8,000 initiatives, 33 percent of which took place in the Milan center, 57 percent across other areas of the city and 10 percent in surrounding small towns.

The project gathers as many as more than 34,600 appointments both cultural and recreational, many specifically created for children, during the world exposition which runs until Oct. 31. Endit