News that over 2,500 online travel agents, tour operators, hotel groups and airlines have signed up as authorised ticket resellers (ATRs) for Expo 2020 Dubai is “testament” to the global confidence in the world showcase extravaganza, according to Su Ramanathan, the event’s vice president of market strategy & sales.
The ATRs, which have doubled in number since before the onset of the pandemic, represent more than 100 countries – with over 540 in China alone.
Ramanathan told Arabian Business that, with less than five months to go before Expo 2020 opens its doors to the world, there is plenty of room for optimism.
She said: “The demand is 100 percent there. The fact that 2,500 travel trade has signed up to sell tickets at a time when the climate is still fluid I think is the biggest testament to the confidence.”
Despite continuing Covid-19 restrictions across the globe, with mutations and variations leading to surges in cases, particularly in India, and continued flight restrictions, from India as well as the UK and South Africa, Ramanathan revealed that “every country committed to Expo is participating”, while earlier projections to welcome 25 million visits to the huge 4.38-square-kilometre site – twice the size of Monaco – remain.
“We’re keeping to that target because we get the optimism from the travel industry. The signing up of those contracts (ATRs) speaks volumes,” she said.
Expo 2020 Dubai, which was postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is scheduled to launch on October 1 and run for 182 days to March 31, under the theme of ‘Connecting minds, creating the future’.
Ramanathan said the full programme of events will be released in July, but the six-month event will include ten thematic weeks and some 60 live performances daily.
She said: “People have not been travelling for some time and there’s such pent-up demand for travel and I think one of the most important things is Dubai is open, but also you get to visit more than 190 countries in one go. A visitor will actually be able to come and go from the United States to Uruguay; from Japan to Jamaica.”
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