As Expo 2020 Dubai takes shape under our very noses, it is prudent to keep an ear to the ground, and a close eye on its counterpart in Italy. Here’s what the UAE event can learn from Expo Milano 2015.
1. Food for thought: applying a theme to many areas
Admittedly, food forms the central theme of the event (Feeding the Planet - Energy for Life) but the organisers of Expo Milano have managed to extend it into events that are all-encompassing, and concepts that are truly multi-cultural.
The James Beard Foundation has announced a series of pop-up restaurants across Milan serving prix-fixe meals by famed American chefs including White House Executive Chef Criseta Comerford. The USA Pavilion has meanwhile confirmed its food trucks will deliver a taste of American culinary diversity ranging from burgers and lobster rolls to Korean tacos.
Also on the mobile food front, the French Pavilion is set to unveil Peugeot’s Le Bistrot du Lion - an ingenious food truck that is an entire restaurant with portability. With specific areas for food preparation, dining and refreshments, the compact vehicle can be easily manoeuvred in tight urban environments, and is able to recycle all its waste.
In ingenious fashion that combines business with sheer delight, the expo will bring together the world’s six largest cocoa-producing countries, with some 2,000 events at the 3,546 square meter Cocoa and Chocolate cluster. The planation-style cluster will host Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Cuba, Gabon, Ghana, and Sao Tomé and Principe. Besides the clever co-joining, it aims to showcase and share Italian chocolate production technology, and thereby, is coordinated by Eurochocolate - Italy’s annual chocolate festival. According to Eurochocolate chief Eugenio Guarducci, “It only seemed right for us to create the conditions for a cultural exchange with producing nations that do not yet transform cocoa into chocolate.”
Other culinary aspects of the expo include a Future Food District, and of course, the official mascot, Foody, who looks like a fruit and vegetable salad on lettuce.
2. The package deal: offering more than the norm
In early April, Dubai-based Vasco Worldwide was mandated to sell show permits for Expo Milano. While the Milan event is expected to attract 20 million visitors, in 2020, the Dubai Expo plans to attract 25 million visitors, and everyone who is anyone wants a hands-on feel.
Responding to the enthusiasm of the UAE-based business community is one thing, but taking it further is another. Besides six show packages that range from economy to luxury, Vasco Worldwide is offering exclusive elements to UAE residents who plan to visit Milan. These include a novelty dinner, tourist and travel cards, Eataly coupons, and a variety of tours on private chauffeured cars, private jets and helicopter.
Shankear Kannaiyan, Senior Vice President – Operations says, “We would like to provide bespoke itineraries for all travellers, in keeping with our commitment and contribution to the growth of the tourism industry. Being a global travel service provider across 86 countries, we are fully equipped to cater to all the needs of a visitor to Expo Milano 2015.”
3. The Reality Show: Nothing is as attractive as authenticity
Expo Milano 2015 stepped into the spotlight with the third phase of its communication campaign in early April, when organisers released the video ‘Your journey around the world’.
Unlike the first stage where Italian actor Antonio Albanese spoke about food in its many guises, or the second which showcased experiences and opportunities, the third commercial talks with and to visitors to the event.
With a virtual visit to the exhibition site, this video becomes a real voyage of discovery. The unique factor is not only the many countries who will participate, but also, the millions of people who will travel to Expo Milano 2015 - their foods, cultures, traditions, and shows.
4. The sustainability factor: Doing it today and thinking about tomorrow
Expo Milano 2015 has won an ISO 20121: 2012 certification for event sustainability, in recognition for its formalised system for the analysis and management of sustainability issues. This certification is the first for a world expo, and only the second for an event of international importance (after the London Olympics of 2012).
“We were working to ensure that we will be the first universal exposition to use tools that can help us to better manage our environmental, social and economic issues,” says Giuseppe Sala, CEO of Expo 2015. “For this, I am very pleased with this important recognition granted by an external certification organisation. It allows us to continue to pursue efficiency, involvement and external transparency - all important goals for Milan Expo 2015.”
Further demonstrating commitment to the environment is the publication of the second edition of the Sustainability Report – again the first expo to be equipped with a tool that allows everyone to monitor activities. In 2006, the Winter Olympics in Turin was the first Olympics to publish a Sustainability Report.
5. The translation trick: Communication is always critical
Dubai will do well to keep in mind one area the Italian seem to be struggling with. The official website of Expo Milano 2015 leaves quite a lot to the imagination of English online visitors, and a January announcement is particularly vexing: “The result demonstrates the commitment of all the people who have actively participated in the project and have become the protagonists of a forward-looking and concrete approach that sees sustainability as a key point for the success of this important event.”
Earlier, an announcement for the sale of student tickets also left everyone guessing. An excerpt read thus: “Student delegations from the dell’Istituto Statale di Istruzione Superiore, “Vincenzo Gioberti" and the Istituto Tecnico per il Turismo "C. Colombo" attended the meeting together with the students of Liceo Scientifico e Classico Statale “Peano-Pellico” who submitted the portal "Together in Expo" to the students of the Istituto Tecnico Agrario “Emilio Sereni which, in representation of students from agricultural institutes and hotel in Italy, explained the project "MIUR-CNR Expo 2015”.”
6. Time and scale: Stick to deadlines and commitments
This is another field Dubai organisers can expect to be judged on harshly. Al little as three weeks before the scheduled opening, several things at Expo Milano didn’t seem quite complete. Reuters reported that “the site of the showpiece event is still a mass of trucks raising dust and workers in hard hats racing to finish building after delays, graft and cost overruns”.
For instance, the anchor Italian pavilion - originally budgeted at €63 million and now pegged at €92 million - may not be completed in time, together with several transport projects.
Local media reports have implied it will cost Italy over €1 million to camouflage all unfinished works, but Expo Commissioner Giuseppe Sala emphatically negated this at an April site visit: “When has it ever been the case for a project like an expo or the Olympics, that all building work has been finished 30 days before the opening?”
