Expo shows no sign of quietening down

Press, 6 October 1988, Page 23

Expo shows no sign of quietening down

By

ROY SINCLAIR

With less than one month left for Brisbane’s World Expo 88, there is no sign of the show quietening down. In fact, the site is experiencing a build-up as people realise time is running out for Expo “Down Under.”

After five months, however, one might ask, “What sort of a job have the Australians made of Expo 88?” According to three authors who wrote the independent “Review,” Expo 88 compares more than favourably with other expositions they have attended. They made their judgments of the Brisbane show after more than 250,000 people visited the site.

In the “Review,” star ratings have been given to each pavilion and the top 10 “must see” are named. New Zealand’s is one of the 10. Expo organisers expected 7.8 million visitors to the site. That was the break-even point at which that there would be no cost to the Australian taxpayer. During September, however, the number reached 10 million and the final visitor numbers could reach 14 million by the end of October. When initial plans were made for holding the event, the local community did not believe that Expo 88 would get under way. In addition, there were problems with the Queensland image. Many Australians in other states regarded the proposed event as a “Joh Show.” As it turned out, the “Joh Show” image

was eradicated when Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson was deposed last November. The result of a survey taken during June this year indicated that most visitors saw Expo as the main event of the Australian Bicentenary. The theme of Expo 88 is “Leisure in the Age of Technology.” This has been hard to interpret compared with "Transport,” the theme of the previous Expo at Vancouver.

While most pavilions use some spectacular technology to produce displays, not many are quite so successful in demonstrating the “Leisure” theme. All pavilions, however, are well worth seeing. Canada uses humour to get a message across on an impressive multiscreen show. The mood is set by the title, “The taxpayers of Canada present another Government movie.” Australia Post has an excellent pavilion with a laser slide show presented in a mirrored auditorium. The “Wish you were there” show is based on postcards sent by those enjoying (and sometimes not enjoying) a holiday of a lifetime.

Among the others, Japan’s pavilion combines the latest technology with displays of life-styles using large-screen television. The U.S.S.R. also has a popular pavilion which is helping to bridge the gap between different ideologies.

Visitors are free to take photographs in most pavilions. Among the few exceptions is New Zealand’s where, for some reason,

photography is not allowed. General entertainment at Expo is of a very high standard. For an over-all impression, nothing beats a ride on the monorail. During the evening, the effect is even better. A visitor to Expo is easily impressed by the organisation of the event and the general friendliness of the Brisbane people. Those working on public transport are especially acommodating. There is no doubt that Brisbane is riding on a high with the success of Expo 88. By the end of this month, however, the show will be over and the city will be staging Australia’s biggest garage sale until the site is cleared. Expo is providing employment for more than 8500 people, mainly from Brisbane. Many of the Expo staff were unemployed. A special employment service is already setting up a post-Expo employment programme. No doubt some people will be employed to complete the official World Expo 88 statistics. These will include many items apart from attendances. The quantities of beer and food consumed will need to be finalised. By early September, Expo beer would have filled 324 family swimming pools. Four million buckets of chips had been eaten along with 170 trawler loads of seafood. Final figures for lost children may also be interesting, as will the figures for lost adults, which have been considerable. Some adults have, apparently, not been found.