From HIT Lab NZ
Friday, September 23, 2005
Expo 2005 held in Japan ended this weekend with over 4 million visits to the New Zealand Pavilion.
Japan’s Expo 2005 Aichi ends this weekend after six months and 22 million visitors – well ahead of the 15 million target.
New Zealand was one of 123 participating countries. By Sunday, when the expo finishes, it is expected four million will have passed through the New Zealand pavilion. Expo commissioner Phillip Gibson said this was twice the number expected.
He said the expo project had been sophisticated, well planned and a huge success for Japan, It was based on the theme of “Nature’s wisdom” and emphasised the use of technology to preserve the environment.
He said the Paris-based International Bureau of Expos had judged the New Zealand pavilion one of the best.
“According to the organisers, we have been among the most popular attractions,” he said.
The New Zealand presence generated a high media profile with more than 1400 press articles in Japan alone. The pavilion also featured on prime time national TV reaching an estimated audience of 40 million.
Mr Gibson said the aim in having a pavilion was to reposition New Zealand’s trade interests in Japan, this country’s third largest export market.
“New Zealand has a strong brand image in Japan as clean and green. But we need to add to that smart and innovative. So the pavilion (designed by Wellington company Story Inc)
Blended classic images of New Zealand with clever design and sophisticated technology, including a popular interactive area put together by HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury and a cellphone portal developed by Saturn in Auckland.
“Visitors could access this by scanning a bar code with their cell phones as they entered and exited. It incorporated information about New Zealand, direct video streaming from Auckland, pictures, songs and animated cartoons and it operated across all the Japanese 3G systems.”
The original government budget was $8.5 million. The private sector came in with an extra $2 million in cash and kind. The VIP facilities hosted over 4000 guests of exporters and other organisations.
Expo’s success has restored the movement’s credibility after the mixed results of the two most recent major Expos – Seville in 1992 and Hanover in 1998.
