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Easy fix to sweaty Expo queues: Ticket in advance
By John Dennis |
June 22, 2010, Tuesday
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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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