Expo Dubai 2020, an event that promises to be one of the biggest in 2020, is actively reaching out to the travel trade. The massive world’s fair will be held between Abu Dhabi and Dubai (both part of the United Arab Emirates), 45 minutes from Dubai International Airport and an hour from Abu Dhabi International. Sumathi Ramanathan, director of destination marketing for the expo, said there will be authorized ticket reseller seller opportunities for travel advisors and tour operators.The event will run from Oct. 20, 2020, to April 10, 2021, and will be the first world’s fair held anywhere in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. It will feature individual pavilions from 192 countries and expects 25 million visitors, 70 percent of them international. Ramanathan said the international nature of the visitors presents opportunities for travel sellers, noting that previous world’s fairs experienced much more domestic visitation. The authorized ticket reseller program will offer commissionable tickets, with pricing dependent on volume and other criteria. Agents should go to the website (expodubai2020.com), then click on tickets, then the reseller tab. There are cooperative marketing programs and a tool kit to help advisors sell. There will also be e-training, webinars and fam trips.“We will be reliant on the trade,” said Ramanathan, “we are talking to cruise lines, tour operators, agent group, the gamut of the industry.” She said that the early findings are that most travel bookers are choosing a three-day pass for international visitors or a two-day stopover for those on their way elsewhere.The theme of Expo 2020 will be “Connecting Minds: Creating the Future.” There will be three sub-themes: opportunity (unlocking potential of individuals and communities), mobility (transportation) and sustainability (environmental issues.) Each country will have a pavilion within one of those sub-themes.The expo will cover 1000 acres, the size of more than 600 soccer fields. The centerpiece will be the Al Wasl Plaza, “the Eiffel Tower of the expo” (the Eiffel Tower was the centerpiece of a Paris exposition in the 19th century). It will be 17 stories tall and cover an expanse equivalent to 16 tennis courts.The expo area is being called District 2020 – City of the Future and 80 percent of the infrastructure to be built will remain for citizen use. Only the country pavilions will leave. Operators are planting 50,000 trees on the grounds.Each country pavilion will offer an individual experience and the expo itself will operate a number of buildings designed by many of the world’s top architects. The United Arab Emirates pavilion is designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava and resembles a falcon, the bird associated with the United Arab Emirates. The Mobility Pavilion will house the world’s largest elevator with a capacity of 157 people.There will be more than 60 live events daily – including concerts, ballet, opera, light shows, parades and much more. Much of it will be of world-class quality. La Scala, the opera company, is coming to the Italy pavilion. This is also the first expo in history to be held in the winter and the weather is expected to be moderate.There will be many special days and special events, so travel advisors can schedule trips around them. Each pavilion will have special events on its country’s national day, though the U.S., for instance, will celebrate July 4 on December 8 since the fair will not be open July 4. There will be 12 thematic weeks, among them climate, water, women and innovation—all with special programming.Expo 2020 will offer 200 dining options representing more than 50 countries. Each pavilion will have dining options and there will also be food halls.“It will be an incredible experience for any traveler,” said Ramanathan—couples, families, students, even business travelers. An app will make it easy to plan and navigate the grounds with GPS.The event is designed to be affordable, said Ramanathan—$33 for a one-day ticket and $71 for a three-day ticket, both offering access to everything, with admission free for children and seniors.There will be 180,000 nearby hotel rooms by the time the expo opens with extensive bus service from them to the fair. A metro will be able to carry 40,000 people an hour between various nearby points and the expo. Let's block ads! (Why?)