There are currently no revised visitor targets for Expo 2020 Dubai, a year to the day before the global showpiece opens its delayed doors to the public.

Pre-coronavirus, organisers had talked of attracting 11 million international visitors to the ‘World’s Greatest Show’ and 25 million visits throughout the duration of the six-month event.

However, the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic has not only forced the event to be delayed by a year – it will now run from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 – but organisers have also had to rethink the logistics behind it, including putting practices in place for social distancing and increased health and safety measures.

Sumathi Ramanathan, director of destination marketing at Expo 2020, told the AHIC On the Road conference on Wednesday: “What we’re doing at present is we’re continuing to monitor the data, working very closely with the UAE tourism authorities, including the airports, the airlines, the tourism entities, but also taking a look at booking patterns that are being provided by the likes of STR, your GDS systems, your Facebooks, your Googles, etc.

“We believe it’s premature for us to be making any meaningful revision to the data, but by quarter one next year we will be able to share the revised visitation numbers.”

Ramanathan revealed that construction of over 190 country pavilions is almost complete, while she stressed that the anticipation of the event is as strong as ever, despite the ongoing global pandemic.

“I think more than the revised visitation numbers, what we are really able to see is the appetite and demand for Expo is very strong, particularly from the business community,” she said.

“We will be able to attract a new portfolio of visitors to Dubai because of this event. That will include multinationals, it will include academic institutions, non-profits, a huge number of entities that are interested in technology, in sustainability,” she added.

The request by the UAE for the expo to be postponed was approved by the BIE executive committee in April and subsequently put to members for a vote, which was conducted remotely in light of the Covid-19 restrictions and achieved a two thirds majority. A request for the event to retain its official title as Expo 2020 Dubai, was also approved.