Expo 2020 Dubai approaches 11 million visits mark

Dubai: Expo 2020 Dubai has recorded 10,836,389 visits as of January 24, while the virtual visitation reached 72.5 million.

The visitors were attracted by the new musical from Indian stars Shekhar Kapur and A.R. Rahman, plus a series of high-profile events as part of the first Global Goals Week to be held outside of the United Nations in New York, according to an Expo 2020 Dubai release yesterday.

Across the Expo 2020 Dubai site, which is four times the size of Dubai Mall and spans the area of 613 football pitches, visitors have safely enjoyed the nearly 200 events being staged every day — thanks to stringent precautionary measures against COVID-19.

Range of compelling panel discussions

Global Goals Week, which ran from January 15-22 at Expo 2020 Dubai, in association with the United Nations, proved similarly popular. The site came alive with post-it pledges and inspiring ‘to-do list’ activations, adding to the range of compelling forums and panel discussions. The Theme Week advanced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a blueprint to achieving a better, more sustainable future for all, tackling global challenges such as poverty, inequality, health and education, and climate change. Expo 2020 Dubai continues to be committed to promoting the SDGs, providing a platform to create a positive impact for our collective future.

Hotly-anticipated concert

Expo 2020 Dubai’s mass virtual visitation is driven by the range of entertainment and extensive live coverage of the Global Goals Week sessions, which garnered 767,000 visitors across the planet.

The headline attractions for this week and later include a hotly-anticipated concert by pop-rap megastars Black Eyed Peas at Al Wasl Plaza today, the fourth show in Expo 2020 Dubai’s six-month Infinite Nights series.

Visitors over 60 can now enjoy many enhanced services as part of the Senior Guests Programme. Open to any guest eligible for a free Expo Senior Citizen Pass, visitors can access dedicated priority parking spaces, use private buggies for up to five people for 90 minutes, gain fast-track entry to selected pavilions, and obtain a 30 per cent discount on lunch at select restaurants across the site.

Health and safety

And for families, Expo 2020 Dubai’s Festival Garden is the perfect cool-weather hang-out, with a host of kids’ activities, music and entertainment. The venue is also hosting the Middle East’s first vegan food festival, running until the end of January.

Health and safety remain a priority, with stringent rules across the site. On-site measures include wearing of masks at all times, indoors as well as outdoors, for all visitors, staff and participants, and PCR testing facilities for Country Pavilion staff, frontline workers and entertainers. All Expo visitors ages 18 and above must show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test result taken within the previous 72 hours.

Expo 2020 Dubai runs until March 31.