SHANGHAI - Expo 2010 Shanghai organizers will release a new set of China Pavilion reservation vouchers with anti-counterfeiting features to combat the fake ones that continue to plague the event's top attraction.
Xu Wei, the spokesperson for the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said on Monday that Expo organizers would announce the launch of the upgraded vouchers soon.
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Since the mega fair's official opening in May, organizers have constantly changed rules to make the Expo experience better for the visitor.
Reservation systems were introduced at a few of the most popular attractions, including the China and Taiwan pavilions. Other popular pavilions, like Saudi Arabia, now issue quick passes for visitors who first visit the less popular Urban Best Practices Area, situated on the Puxi side of the Expo Garden.
While the China Pavilion has a capacity to receive more than 50,000 people per day, it's not achieving the target as visitors are disobeying rules. As a remedy, pavilion employees distribute about 40,000 free reservation vouchers each day.
With an average of about 400,000 visitors wanting to visit the China Pavilion every day, the vouchers have become one of the most sought-after items in the Expo Garden.
The vouchers are not hard to duplicate.
Dates, time slots and rules are printed on the vouchers, which are about the size of a business card, making it easy for unauthorized vouchers to find their way into Garden.
Expo organizers have guaranteed an "open and fair" process in the distribution of vouchers, even as efforts have been stepped up to curb the sale of other counterfeit Expo products, including the Haibao mascots.
Between May 1 and July 16, at least 18 people involved in selling fake vouchers, along with another 35 people selling fake Haibao products, were caught, said Liu Junxiang, an official in charge of Zone A and B, which cover most of the Asian and Oceania pavilions.
A total of 75 reservation vouchers and 25,500 unauthorized Haibao toys were confiscated, he said.
"We have mobilized all staff and made a joint effort to combat this problem," he said.
However, those in the business of selling fake reservation tickets are minting money.
On Monday, an online peddler said the fake vouchers for the China and Taiwan pavilions were selling at 200 yuan ($29.5) each, while a fake quick pass to the Saudi Arabia Pavilion was worth 700 yuan.
