International Expositions—Fighting for Survival
INTERNATIONAL expositions and world’s fairs have usually generated great public interest. They have also promoted world trade. But there are those who now wonder if they can survive. Why is this?
The history of fairs and expositions and their purpose, along with observations of a recent exposition, will help answer the question.
Origin and Purpose
The history of fairs can be traced back to pre-Christian times, to religious feasts and gatherings in the Middle East. They opened the way for traders such as the Phoenicians to distribute goods over the entire Mediterranean region.
Commercial fairs similar to what we know got their start in the Middle Ages in Europe. They were trade centers for merchants and others. Their religious background can be seen in the fact that the word “fair” comes from the Latin feriae (feast), relating to the medieval religious fairs and feasts. Similarly, “the German word for fair, Messe, is derived from the Latin missa, meaning ‘mass.’” (The Encyclopedia Americana, International Edition) In time, though, the religious background pretty well faded out of the picture, and the emphasis shifted to the commercial aspect.
That emphasis was clear in the Crystal Palace Exposition in London, England, in 1851, viewed as the first truly international exposition and the model for those that came after. Its purpose was to “introduce the world to British goods and manufacturing processes, thereby stimulating demand.” Was it a success?
The Encyclopedia Americana answers: “Not only did the British learn about the superb arts and crafts of other peoples, but the visitors . . . became acutely aware of the superiority of British goods, machinery, and production techniques. Immediately, orders for British goods showed a sharp increase.”
As the number of international expositions increased, it was seen fit to manage these with a world body. (The box on page 25 gives a partial listing of some better-known world’s fairs and expositions.) Thus, in 1928 in Paris, France, 35 nations signed an agreement to have a diplomatic convention “to regulate the frequency and method of organizing world fairs.” By 1931 this convention set up the BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) to oversee these gatherings.
EXPO 86: The 1986 World Exposition
The most recent international exposition was EXPO 86 at Vancouver, Canada, from May 2 to October 13, 1986. More than 90 pavilions dotted its 173-acre [70 ha] site, and 54 nations participated. The theme of EXPO 86 was “transportation and communications,” and its theme statement was “World in Motion—World in Touch.” Its centerpiece was Expo Centre, a 17-story stainless-steel geodesic dome. Among other things, it housed a 500-seat Omnimax theater for projecting movies on a peripheral-vision screen eight stories high!
The Soviet Union and the United States displayed their space vehicles and satellites to show what they have accomplished in travel and communications. The showpiece of the fair, however, was the Canada Pavilion located at Canada Place, a spectacular $144.8 million structure meant to be a “permanent federal government complex.” Built on a pier in Vancouver’s harbor, it looks like a combination of a luxury liner and a giant five-masted sailing vessel about to put right out to sea.
After Expo ended, Canada Place became the World Trade Centre. It is well suited for that. Inside, it is as big as two football fields. It is able to accommodate a convention crowd of 5,000, offers 23 other meeting rooms, and even has a 500-room hotel and ballroom.
“Was It Really Worth It?”
The continuing use of the buildings and the site developments cause some to say that whatever the cost, a world exposition is well worth it. They point to the jobs created; the increase of tourism; the tax revenues; and the new transportation system, bridges, and highways, as well as all the other worthwhile spin-offs.
Many praise the amount of clean entertainment for families at an exposition. At Expo, in addition to the educational exhibits in each pavilion, there was a midway, four amphitheaters and movies, and more than 43,000 free performances, such as dances and concerts. Its atmosphere caused one writer to say about it: “You feel good just walking around.” One of its films was “nominated for an Academy Award for the best live action short subject category.”
But “was it really worth it?” one newspaper asked. On the last day of EXPO 86, a Canadian newspaper, when introducing the matter of the hundreds of millions of dollars of debts to be faced, said: “Tomorrow, the hangover begins.”
Costs and Debts
“The fair finished with a deficit of $349 million,” The Toronto Star reported. Losses in operating past expositions are noted in the box already referred to. So EXPO 86 was no exception. True, it had over 22 million visitors—more than expected. And it had excellent free publicity all over the world—10,000 journalists from 60 countries accredited to write about it. It had been eight years in preparation and had a “brilliant global marketing campaign” to promote it. Yet it lost money.
However, would not the economy get a boost? “The province’s troubled economy received a brief hit like the one a drug user seeks—quick, euphoric. But the promised international investment doesn’t seem to have materialized,” said one report. Unemployment in the area dropped back to its pre-Expo level.
Costs to the taxpayer are not over. Though a beautiful facility like Canada Place has future use, still it would require renovation. Simply gutting it would cost an estimated $10 million. The cost of renovation has already run about $18 million. But there are other factors that indicate a decline for expositions.
Other Decline Factors
One writer observed: “We have come to suspect technology; at the very least, we are no longer awed by it.” It no longer arouses unqualified admiration.
David Suzuki, a Canadian scientist, said about EXPO 86: “Amidst the glowing promise of artificial intelligence, space travel and nuclear fusion, [it] gave no indication of the overriding military consequences of this work, the enormous profits to be reaped by private industry or the social, environmental and personal consequences of the coming changes.”
Among other reasons given for the decline of interest are: “World’s fairs are no longer benchmarks for the industrial world.” “There is less sense of wonderment in the world today. . . . People . . . can see all the wonders of the world on their television set.” “The proliferation of Expos in the last couple of decades has evidently made some people blasé about them.”
What Future for Expositions?
‘Too many category fairs and, in the U.S. at least, too many failures, are leading to a reappraisal of the world’s fair concept,’ according to the commissioner-general for EXPO 86. Moreover, that was before EXPO 86 started.
The declining attendances at many of the recent expositions had raised concern among those who organize and promote them. Now Australians are preparing for EXPO 88 in Brisbane, to open April 30. It will have the theme “Leisure in the Age of Technology.” Will it repeat the success of EXPO 86? Time will tell. It is obvious that something will have to be done to attract larger audiences and to prevent the great financial losses of international expositions if they are to survive.
[Box/Picture on page 25]
Some Well-Known World’s Fairs and International Expositions
◼ Chicago World’s Fair, 1893, had an attendance of 27.5 million; it featured world’s first Ferris wheel.
◼ The New York World’s Fair of 1939-40, with its futuristic Trylon and Perisphere to highlight its theme, “The World of Tomorrow,” had an attendance of almost 45 million.
◼ Another New York World’s Fair (1964-65) stressed its theme of “Peace Through Understanding” with its Unisphere, a 140-foot-high [53 m] stainless steel globe. The fair’s expenses exceeded its receipts by more than $20 million.
◼ Expo 67 (1,000 acres) [400 ha] at Montreal, Canada, was considered to be a great success, with more than 50 million attending and with more than 60 nations participating. But it “left a $300-million deficit.”
◼ Osaka, Japan, hosted Expo 70 (815 acres) [330 ha], drawing an attendance of 64,218,770. It was outstanding for its record of 77 participating nations.
◼ Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.A. (1982); 11.1 million attended.
◼ New Orleans, U.S.A. (1984); 7.3 million present but closed with an estimated $100-million deficit.
◼ Tsukuba, Japan (252 acres) [102 ha] (1985); 20.3 million attended.
[Credit Line]
Background photo: Library of Congress
[Pictures on page 23]
Above: Unisphere, New York World’s Fair, 1964-65
Left: Atomium, Brussels’ World’s Fair, 1958
Below: Expo Centre, Vancouver Exposition, 1986
[Pictures on page 24]
Scenes from EXPO 86, Vancouver
[Picture Credit Line on page 22]
Background photo: Library of Congress