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About World Expo '88
Attendance
In the early planning days of the
Exposition - as the first free-enterprise funded World
Expo - it was a considered, yet calculated
risk. 7.8 million persons needed to have visited
the Expo over the six months for it to have been a
successful exercise - in other words, an average of
42,000 visits per day over the 184 days of the
Exposition. For an Exposition far away from the
major population centres of the World of Europe, the
Americas and Asia - where predominantly the local
population feed the Exposition's daily tally - hosting
the Expo in Australia - and in Brisbane - with a local
population of just over 1 million persons - and
getting a six-month figure more than seven times that
number was by no means a fait accompli. It was, a
calculated risk.
With a time-line chart of each day's optimal
cumulative attendance figures, the Expo Authority
charted a course for success - and - romped home
magnificently.
Already on the first day of the Expo - Saturday 30 April 1988 - the day the Exposition was officially opened
by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the presence of
the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of
Australia, the Honourable R.J.L. Hawke MP, AC;
Premier of Queensland, the Honourable Mike Ahern MP; and
Lord Mayor of Brisbane the Right
Honourable Sally-Anne Atkinson and other
distinguished guests at the perennially popular River Stage, the Expo site received a modest 77,
260 visitors.
(The River Stage was also venue
for the nightly state-of-the-art laser and fireworks
show, and concert by Julio Iglesias, amongst other numerous other
international and national performances, and also was
the venue for the Official Closing Ceremony where some
20, 000 staff regaled to inspirational music as they
watched fireworks explode from city building
tops across the river (this had never
before happened in Brisbane and was a complete
surprise) - and playfully tossed massive inflatable plastic globes across
the crowd. Also not to be forgotten, here was also the
official 'hand-over ceremony' of the Bureau of International
Expositions flag from Secretary-General Madame Marie
Helene Defrene to representatives from the next two
World Expositions - Osaka Garden Expo '90 - and
Seville Expo '92. As part of this final show at the
River Stage traditional Japanese dance and also
Sevillian flamenco featured - as well as a special
Seville Expo '92 fireworks display which, added to the
Closing Ceremony fireworks made the Closing
Ceremony fireworks the longest fireworks display in
Australian history.)
The following next days the daily attendance rose higher
still - and in just over 13 days into the Exposition -
the first Millionth visitor entered the Expo site - two
weeks ahead of schedule.
It became plain to see that the 7.8 million target would
not only be easily reached - but that it would probably
be more than doubled. Brisbane had embraced it's new
international cosmopolitan addition like a long-lost
friend and the World Expo was averaging close to
100,000 visits a day.
Then, on the second last day of the Expo - Saturday 29
October 1988 - a staggering 182,762 persons visited the Expo site -
nearly a fifth of the population of Brisbane - with the
final day of the exposition, Sunday 30
October 1988, seeing 91,137 visitors.
Tabulating the data - a joint-Tourism Queensland and
James Cook University Research paper showed that:
Of non-staff visits to
World Expo '88 (a total of 16, 465, 000 persons)
(i) approximately 65.4% were visits by local
residents (of South-East Queensland) on day trips;
(ii) approximately 23.2% were visits by interstate
visitors on overnight trips;
(iii) approximately 6.1% were visits by Queensland
residents on overnight trips;
(iv) approximately 5.3% were made by overseas
visitors (also on overnight trips).
Day trip visitors made an approximate 6.74 visits to the
Exposition - as opposed to an average of 2.1
visits per overnight visitor.
The final statistics for
the six-month expo (including V.I.P.s and staff) came
to 18, 574, 476 visits - more than the total
population of Australia at the time.
Not only was World Expo '88 a success in good will and
diplomacy - it had managed to pay for itself many times
over - with no public debt or liabilities - reversing an
alarming trend that had occurred in previous World
Expositions. And, it proved that the familiar saying
about Australia - 'the tyranny of distance' - was not
applicable here - with Brisbane, Queensland and
Australia hosting a major world-wide international event
and doing so in the best of style and with daily
attendance figures that would be the envy of any
specialized Exposition. - even those hosted in Europe,
Asia or the Americas.
Thanks to the leadership of Sir
Llewellyn Edwards - who had guided the Expo from it's
inception to development and delivery - with his
able-bodied team of the affable Expo Oz & Friends;
the Theme Song and Logos; as well as the masterful
rudder of Sir Edward Williams, KBE, KCMG,
Commissioner-General of World Expo '88 and Australian
Commonwealth Government representative at the
Exposition; the Expo Authority with General Manager Mr
Bob Minnikin MBE, the eight directors of each division
of the Expo - from Communications, to Entertainment,
Finance & Administration, International
Participation, Marketing, Operations, Site Development,
and Technology, and their numerous offices, staff, and
several-day contracted employees, including the
thinkers, designers, press-writers, architects,
engineers, builders, electricians, painters, gardeners,
and artists, musicians, magicians, street performers,
comedians, directors, and their assistants; the staff of
the International, Australian, and Corporate Pavilions -
the Commissioner-Generals and their Secretaries, and
their Media & Protocol Assistants, Staff and Events
Managers, and their Attendants & Guides, Assistants,
Artists, Technical and Logistics Staff; and the
ever-present courteous and smiling Lorraine
Martin-trained and Prue Acton-designed colourfully
canary-yellow uniformed and brim-hatted Expo Hosts &
Hostesses and the turquoise-stripe uniformed Expo
goodwill Volunteers, and the Security Staff,
Ticket-Sellers and Ticket-Collectors, Souvenir Shops,
Restaurants, Catering and Services Staff - that all kept
to the tune and march of the 65-strong Expo City
Marching Band - World Expo '88 had become an unqualified
success, and a World's first in many regards.
Now the time had come to turn the next page in the
Expo's story - it's re-development.
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