Osaka Expo sees strong ticket sales
Ticket sales for the ongoing 2025 Osaka Expo have been strong recently.
The number of tickets sold in a week has exceeded 500,000 for three consecutive weeks since mid-May.
If the current pace continues, total cumulative sales may reach 18.4 million, the level that makes the operation of the six-month Osaka Expo profitable.
Meanwhile, the increase in visitors has led to issues such as long lines occurring more frequently. Maintaining visitor satisfaction is now a major challenge, especially as temperatures are set to rise.
The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition aimed to sell 14 million advance tickets by the April 13 start of the Expo. Actual sales fell short of the target, at about 9.7 million, however.
Still, sales began to increase gradually after the opening.
"The appeal of the expo is becoming known" to the public, a senior official of the association said.
In particular, sales of season passes, for which price discounts were applied until the end of May, were robust. In addition, starting May 7, the entry time for night ticket holders was moved up to 4 p.m. from 5 p.m., which contributed to strong ticket sales.
The association hopes that about 80% of the Expo operation costs seen totaling ¥116 billion will be covered with ticket sales revenue.
If tickets continue to sell at the pace of 500,000 per week, cumulative sales would reach 18.4 million by mid-August, possibly making the Expo operation profitable.
But Jun Takashina, deputy secretary-general of the association, sounded cautious at a news conference on June 2.
"We need to carefully monitor how long sales will remain brisk and the possibility of sales starting to decline at some point," Takashina said.
The number of visitors is also on the rise. Daily visitors hit the highest level of about 170,000 on May 31, apparently thanks to a series of popular events such as a live concert and a fireworks show.
The association expects a total of 28.2 million people will visit the expo, which ends Oct. 13.
The daily number of visitors is seen peaking at 220,000. However, an association official cautioned that there are no events or services capable of entertaining some 200,000 visitors at the same time.
The association is also concerned that waiting in line for a long time in front of pavilions in the summer could increase the risk of heatstroke.
"It's not that we are trying to attract as many visitors as possible no matter what," Takashina said.
The association plans to respond appropriately while listening to visitors' opinions, among other things.
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