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Easy fix to sweaty Expo queues: Ticket in advance
IT seems extraordinary to me that the Expo organizers and exhibitors continue to require visitors to queue for hours in the middle of Shanghai's hot, wet, humid summer, as a compulsory and time-wasting ordeal before gaining entry into the more popular Expo pavilions - when a simple, obvious and inexpensive solution is available.
The solution: ticketing for scheduled visit sessions - exactly what every multi-screen cinema center in the world, and many theme parks, have been doing for years!
The details:
1. Allow each exhibitor to determine a reasonable viewing time for its pavilion.
2. Divide the day into segments of that viewing time, with a 15 minute gap between sessions - for example, 1 hour 45 minutes' viewing time to provide a 2 hour visit cycle.
3. Each pavilion sets up a box office to issue session tickets, for however many visitors the pavilion can accommodate in a session.
Yes, there will be a queue at the box office, but a fast moving one. Session tickets would be issued for all of that day, or perhaps for a few days in advance.
The benefits: minimal queuing time, with visitors able to pre-plan their visit and put all of their time at the Expo to good use.
The problems - I think there are only two:
One: What if I want to spend much longer in a pavilion?
My response: Too bad! Think how much queuing time I've saved. And I can always get another ticket for a second session.
Two: This solution will cost money - to which I have 3 responses:
1. How can you reasonably expect people to queue for hours on a high-humidity 40-degree day? They are effectively losing the value of half the day they've paid for!
2. Absorb the cost. It will be a minuscule proportion of the total Expo cost to China and the international exhibitors.
3. Or, if you have to, charge a nominal booking fee, perhaps 2 yuan (29 US cents) for an individual and 5 yuan for a family, much less painful for visitors than standing for hours in the sun.
And did I enjoy the Expo? I expect to when I eventually go after the queuing problem has been overcome.
(John Dennis, an Australian architect who regularly visits Shanghai)
The solution: ticketing for scheduled visit sessions - exactly what every multi-screen cinema center in the world, and many theme parks, have been doing for years!
The details:
1. Allow each exhibitor to determine a reasonable viewing time for its pavilion.
2. Divide the day into segments of that viewing time, with a 15 minute gap between sessions - for example, 1 hour 45 minutes' viewing time to provide a 2 hour visit cycle.
3. Each pavilion sets up a box office to issue session tickets, for however many visitors the pavilion can accommodate in a session.
Yes, there will be a queue at the box office, but a fast moving one. Session tickets would be issued for all of that day, or perhaps for a few days in advance.
The benefits: minimal queuing time, with visitors able to pre-plan their visit and put all of their time at the Expo to good use.
The problems - I think there are only two:
One: What if I want to spend much longer in a pavilion?
My response: Too bad! Think how much queuing time I've saved. And I can always get another ticket for a second session.
Two: This solution will cost money - to which I have 3 responses:
1. How can you reasonably expect people to queue for hours on a high-humidity 40-degree day? They are effectively losing the value of half the day they've paid for!
2. Absorb the cost. It will be a minuscule proportion of the total Expo cost to China and the international exhibitors.
3. Or, if you have to, charge a nominal booking fee, perhaps 2 yuan (29 US cents) for an individual and 5 yuan for a family, much less painful for visitors than standing for hours in the sun.
And did I enjoy the Expo? I expect to when I eventually go after the queuing problem has been overcome.
(John Dennis, an Australian architect who regularly visits Shanghai)
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