Shanghai World Expo tickets set to go on sale

BEIJING, Feb. 26 -- Tickets for the World Expo 2010 will go on sale for groups on March 27 and for the public on July 1.

The basic ticket price will be 160 yuan (22.40 U.S. dollars). Foreigners will be able to buy tickets from overseas outlets authorized by the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

From March 27 to June 30, group bookings can be made for organizations, institutions and enterprises. The public can buy tickets from July 1, Zhong Yanqun, fulltime deputy director of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai Executive Committee, told a press conference today.

Peak day admission tickets will cost 200 yuan and will cover 17 days including Chinese Labor Day holiday (May 1-3), National Day holiday (October 1-7), and the last week before closing (October 25-31).

Tickets will be discounted from 10 to 30 yuan for those who buy before the Expo opens on May 1, 2010.

People going to the Expo after 5pm (apart from the peak days) can get tickets for 90 yuan but only during Expo.

Three-day passes will cost 400 yuan and seven-day passes 900 yuan.

At least 62 million tickets will be available, said Chen Xianjin, deputy director general of the Expo Bureau.

Discounts will also be offered to the disabled, senior citizens, students with valid IDs and Chinese servicemen and women. Children under 1.2 meters will not have to pay.

The basic price is "affordable" for the majority of people, and amounts to around 1 percent of the Chinese per-capita disposable income for last year, Zhong said, noting that it was common practice to set ticket prices within the 1 to 3-percent range of the host country's per-capita disposable income.

The average ticket price will be 96 yuan taking into consideration the discounts available, Zhong said.

The Expo organizer will encourage people to reserve tickets in advance or buy group tickets in an attempt to control visitor flow, Zhong said. The organizer is expecting 70 million visitors, 5 percent of whom will be from overseas.

The organizer will appoint domestic and overseas agencies to sell tickets and there will be 3,200 sales outlets in China. People will be able to purchase tickets at branches of China Mobile, China Telecom, Bank of Communications and China Post. Online and hotline channels will also be opened.

The first domestic and overseas ticket sales agencies will sign contracts with the organizer on March 2.

During Expo, visitors will be able to buy tickets on site or at kiosks. The Expo Bureau will appoint travel agents to organize group tours.

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