The Expo Lifecycle

The Expo project and the role of the BIE

 

A project for an International Registered Exhibition (World Expo) or an International Recognized Exhibition (International Expo) goes through a series of steps before culminating in the actual event that lasts for six or three months, depending on the category of the Expo. Altogether, an Expo project takes several years to complete.

Furthermore, there must be at least five years in between two World Expos. One International Expo may take place between two World Expos.

Below is an outline of the necessary steps of an Expo project:

1) Submission of candidacy application

2) Bidding

3) The vote

4) Registration or recognition of the Expo project

5) Preparation and implementation of the Expo project

6) Expo

7) Post-Expo

 

1) Submission of candidacy application

The government of the state wishing to organize an Expo must submit its candidacy application to the BIE, mentioning the proposed theme, the proposed date, the duration, the legal status of the organizers, and the guarantee of government support in the event that it is not the government itself organizing the exhibition.

In the case of World Expos, the candidacy application must be submitted a maximum of nine years and a minimum of six years before the proposed opening date of the exhibition.

In the case of International Expos, the candidacy application must be submitted a maximum of six years and a minimum of five years before the proposed opening date of the exhibition.

Beginning on the date that the first candidacy application is submitted to the BIE, any other government wishing to organize an exhibition for the same year has six months to submit its own candidacy application to the BIE.

It should be noted that there must be at least 15 years between any two Expos organized in the same country.

 

2) Bidding

A) Enquiry mission – project assessment

At the end of the six-month period following the submission of the first candidacy application, enquiry missions are carried out by the BIE in the candidate country/city.

The enquiry missions assess the feasibility and viability of the Expo project, as well the political and social climate in the candidate country and city that would ensure necessary support for the Expo project.

Specifically, the following elements are evaluated during the enquiry missions:

• Theme of the exhibition, its definition and its contents

• Date and duration

• Location

• Area of the Expo site and the area proposed to be allocated to each participant

• Number of visitors expected

• Measures proposed to ensure financial feasibility and guarantees

• Indicators which will make it possible to calculate the cost of participation and the financial and material dispositions for the participants in order to minimize the cost of their participation

• Attitude of relevant authorities and interested parties

The resulting report produced is then submitted to the Executive Committee of the BIE for review, which then forwards the report with advice to the General Assembly. The General Assembly decides which proposals the BIE will further investigate. Once approved, the report forms the basis of evaluation by the BIE member states during the vote.

 

B) International campaign - project development

Furthermore, during the bidding phase, candidate countries must carry out international campaign to garner support for the project and develop their proposed themes in order to raise international interest around the proposed Expos. International symposiums, forums, and other activities are organized by the candidates to this end.

 

3) The vote

At the end of the bidding phase, a vote by secret ballot takes place at a BIE General Assembly to grant the right to host an Expo to a government for the chosen city and date. Each member state has one vote.

Priority is given to member states.

 

The following procedure is used for the voting:

Only two candidates:

If there are only two candidates for an Expo in the same year, then the right to host an Expo is given to the proposal receiving a simple majority.

More than two candidates:

If there are more than two candidates, then:

• A proposal must receive a 2/3 majority in order to win in the first round

• If on the first vote, no proposal receives a 2/3 majority, the proposal that receives the least amount of votes during that first vote is eliminated; if one of the remaining proposals then receives a 2/3 majority it wins

• The above is followed until there are no more than two proposals in competition

The above procedure applies when the candidate country is a member state of the BIE. A 2/3 majority is required for a non-member state in any case.

 

Key criteria for the voting by the member states are:

• Feasibility and viability of the Expo project, as assessed by the enquiry mission report

• Appeal of the theme: the BIE member states must believe that the proposed theme is not only of universal interest but is a theme on which they would have positive contributions to make as Expo participants

• Consideration of international relations: the relations between the candidate country and the voting BIE member state (not only existing ones but projected relations as well) can influence a member state’s decision

After a country wins the right to host an Expo, it must continue to work closely with the BIE and carry out certain steps required by the BIE rules and regulations in order to not forfeit its right to host an Expo.

 

4) Registration or recognition of the Expo project

The “registration” or “recognition” of the Expo project refers to the formalization of the Expo project, whereby the host country submits to the BIE a complete and definitive plan of execution for the Expo.

 

In the case of World Expos, the registration must take place at the latest five years before the opening date.

In the case of International Expos, the recognition must take place at the latest four years before the opening date.

 

The registration or recognition dossier must address concrete issues including:

• Legislative and financial measures

• Legal status of Expo organizers

• Contents plan (theme selection, its definition, its development, applications)

• Duration of the Expo

• Site planning/master plan of the site

• Financial plan

• Promotional/communication plan (national and international)

• Post-Expo site reutilization plan

• Commercialization program

The application must be accompanied by general regulations of the exhibition and participation contract, the documents establishing and guaranteeing compensation in the case of cancellation and any special regulations regarding the financial and material conditions for participation aiming to minimize the participation costs.

 

5) Preparation and implementation of the Expo project

It is only after the registration or the recognition of an Expo project that the host country can officially begin its preparations and implementation of the Expo project, which include:

• Sending out, through diplomatic channels, official invitations to governments and international organizations to participate in the Expo

• Managing the participants, planning and preparation of programs related to city development, culture, and events

• Finalizing special regulations and implementing them

• Establishing guidelines for the terms of participation to the Expo

• Finalizing communication and promotion plan and implementing them

• Further developing the theme and implementing related activities

• Implementing site planning, construction, operations

 

During this phase, Expo organizers are required to report regularly (twice a year) to the following BIE organs:

• Executive Committee, for the state of progress of Expo preparations

• Rules Committee, for preparation of recommendations regarding special regulation to be submitted at the BIE General Assemblies

• General Assembly, for an overall progress report

During the presentation of progress reports by the authorities of an Expo, BIE member states may make recommendations or ask certain measures to be taken in order to ensure the smooth running of the Expo.

 

6) Expo

During the Expo, the BIE will be present in various ways.

The first is through the Steering Committee of the College of Commissioners General. The Steering Committee is comprised of a group of Commissioners General of participating pavilions chosen among the BIE member states participating in the Expo.

The Steering Committee meets regularly before and during the Expo – though with a higher frequency during the Expo. Its objectives are to ensure that the regulations of the exhibition are respected, and it deals with issues of common interest to the participant countries. The Steering Committee moreover ensures adequate representation of all participating countries vis-à-vis the Commissioner General of the Exhibition and it also represents a direct link to the BIE.

In addition, the BIE organizes forums, symposiums, and other events during the Expo. The awards given out to outstanding pavilions and other prizes for notable work and individuals, a tradition at the BIE inherited from earlier Exhibitions, are also another way that the BIE is involved directly during the Expo.

 

7) Post-Expo

In the post-Expo phase, entities are assigned to manage the follow-up of the Expos.

After the closing of an Expo, the BIE visits the grounds of the former Expo site to verify that the reutilization plan for the site, which Expo organizers submitted to the BIE during its registration or recognition process, is properly implemented.

Furthermore, once the Expo closes, it joins a network of other cities around the world that have hosted Expos, or the AVE (Association of Cities and Regions Hosting an International Exhibition), to exchange ideas and experiences.

The BIE serves as the link among all past and future Expos and it acts as the guardian of the tradition of World Expos.

 

International Horticultural Exhibitions (“A1 International Exhibitions”)

The recognition of International Horticultural Exhibitions goes through a different procedure.

The project must first go through an enquiry by the AIPH (International Association of Horticultural Producers) in order that its viability and feasibility be assessed.

The government of the country in which the exhibition would be hosted must also submit to the BIE a request for recognition of the exhibition.

Once the project has been approved by the AIPH and supported by its government, the general regulations of the project are then submitted to the BIE General Assembly for final approval.

The BIE grants recognition to the International Horticultural Exhibition provided that its general regulations are not in contradiction with any part of the BIE Convention.