Expo tourism heats up in Shanghai

As the opening of the Shanghai World Expo draws closer, the city's tourism operators are preparing travel packages catering for locals and inbound visitors to the event.

Booking Expo tickets online has been a popular, convenient option for Shanghai's local residents. But visitors from outside the city face a more difficult task in planning their Expo trip, as they may not stay for long.

To ease their worries, five local travel agencies have introduced planned, one-day trips. They have also offered discounts to customers who book early.

Zhang Jianquan, deputy manager of Local Travel Agency, said, "If people want to visit the China Pavilion, we can book them now. If they want to book tours for dates in late May, we can also do it now."

Besides the Expo Park, travel agencies have other tour packages covering places of interest in Shanghai and neighboring cities. The Shanghai Tour Bus Center has increased the number of its vehicles and guides to meet the expected boom.

Zhang Lantian, deputy director of Shanghai Tour Bus Center, said, "For trips to neighboring cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region, we will promote 160 places of interest plus a dozen more especially for the Expo."

70 million people are expected to visit Shanghai during the Expo. Currently 93 percent of the 24 million presale tickets have already been bought.

The Expo will open on May the 1st, after which visitors can buy tickets from booths in service. Organizers have suggested avoiding the Expo's peak time in May and October, and to book their tickets at least three days in advance.