Scalpers sell tickets to China Pavilion
- Source: Global Times
- [11:04 May 21 2010]
- Comments
A man (left) claiming he is a travel agent sells reservation tickets to the China Pavilion inside the Expo Park Thursday. Photo: Zhu Wenjuan
By Shen Weihuang
With visitors eyeing the China Pavilion from afar, hoping to get a closer look inside, scalpers are viewing the opportunity as a means to cash in on all the hype surrounding the structure.
One man Thursday claiming to be a travel agent roamed the park grounds inside the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai offering reservation tickets to the Chinese structure for 100 yuan ($14.60), according to local media reporting.
Others are taking a more creative approach, posting such tickets online.
But one such vendor surnamed Cao said his tickets were all sold out Thursday afternoon when the Global Times reached him, refusing to say where he had obtained the tickets.
Designated travel agencies on the other hand are given a third of the 50,000 daily spots available at the China Pavilion for their clients.
"For our group visitors we only get a piece of paper that certifies we have booked the tickets to the China Pavilion for tourists," Yao Min, director of Spring International Travel Agency, told the Global Times Thursday.
"We do not get individual reservation tickets per client like normal visitors do for this pavilion."
Spring International added that the man inside the park Thursday was likely operating under the guise of a travel agent in order to attract more potential buyers.
