Expo. 02 will go ahead “regardless”
The Director of Switzerland's national exhibition, Expo .02, says the event will take place "regardless", despite financial woes and mixed expectations from the Swiss public.
In an interview in the German-speaking “Sonntagsblick” newspaper, Nelly Wenger said the exhibition would open its doors on May 15 even if the Swiss government fails to give the financially troubled event SFr 120 million ($72.7 million).
According to Wenger the money is needed to bridge the gap left by a lack of sponsorship. She said the initial plan to finance Expo. 02 with 85 per cent of funds coming from industry and sponsorship was “utopian”.
An initial sponsorship budget of SFr800 million ($485 million) was amended down to SFr454 million ($275 million) in 1999.
“Swiss mystery”
Speaking on French Swiss Radio on Saturday she drew attention to what she terms “a great Swiss mystery.” She said she could not understand why four months from its opening, an event which has been planned since 1995 was still being questioned.
Despite the lack of funding and uncertainty over whether the Swiss government will issue the required funds in March, Wenger remained upbeat in the newspaper interview with a “show must go on” attitude.
She said that if the federal coffers did not issue the money, she had no contingency plan. “By that time it will be March,” she said, “I won’t have any time left to manoeuvre. All I can do is ensure that I rigorously monitor our expenditure.”
But even if the government does agree to the Expo. 02 funds, Wenger said there would still be a shortfall of SFr20 million ($12 million).
Financial viability
She also pointed out that the financial viability of the event was based upon 4.8 million visitors to the four Expo. 02 sites in both French and German-speaking regions and 10 million people buying tickets to enter the exhibition.
“So far advanced ticket sales have exceeded our expectations”, she said. “But if the visitors do not actually come [once it’s open] then it will be a financial flop.”
With less than six months to go until the event throws opens its doors, Wenger said she had butterflies in her stomach and that her watch had an Expo. 02 countdown on it.
“I’m taking care of all the details,” she said. “I want the absolute best quality.”
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