Yeosu Island Expo's poor performance is gradually making up for it... ‘Sharing island values’ has its limits

(Yeosu = Yonhap News) Reporter Son Sang-won = The 2026 Yeosu World Island Expo has somewhat made up for its poor initial box office performance and only has 18 days left until its closing (November 4).

Although the harsh evaluation has eased somewhat and more than 100,000 people flock on holidays, it is still not enough to realize the purpose of sharing the island's value and charm.

According to the 2026 Yeosu World Island Expo Organizing Committee on the 18th, the number of visitors to the Jinmo District, Dolsan-eup, Juju President, Gaedo and Geumo Island Vice Event Directors, and Yeosu World Expo site as of the 15th was counted at 1,317,221.

Although it seems difficult to reach the target of 3 million viewers, the sluggish box office performance that followed immediately after opening on the 5th of last month is at least partially compensated for.

Reinforcement of content, such as the fall outing season, holidays, and performances, contributed to the vitality.

It recorded 67,000 people on the 25th of last month, the day of Chuseok, about 132,000 on the 4th during the National Foundation Day holiday, and 126,000 on the 9th, Hangeul Day, exceeding 1 million on the 10th, 36 days after the opening.

Some say that the number of visitors cannot be viewed at face value as a measure of the completeness of an event.

As of the 11th, the rate of free admission accounts for 84% of the total.

Up to two visitors accompanied by children under the age of 12, and depending on the time of year, seniors, citizens of Yeosu, citizens of participating local governments, and island residents were admitted free of charge.

Of the 400,000 tickets that have already been sold, most have not been used, and on second-hand trading sites, they are sold for 2,000 to 5,000 won, far below the regular price of 15,000 won.

It was decided to cover 12 billion won out of the total project cost of 72.3 billion won with profits, but as ticket sales fell far short of the target, local financial burden became unavoidable.

An official from the organizing committee said, "When we set a goal of attracting 3 million visitors before the opening, we designed about 2 million of them to be free admission," and added, "Although ticket sales are lower than the target, we will try to encourage more people to come and enjoy the Island Expo."

Contents that attract visitors are also filled with performances and events that are somewhat distant from the island.

An official from a civil society group in Yeosu said, "If we don't invite singers, we can't maintain visitors for a long event period," and added, "This should be an opportunity to think about the reality that many local festivals, except for a few famous festivals, are operated in this way."

One visitor commented, "When I actually visited the exhibition hall, I thought it was more worth seeing than I expected, perhaps because I had heard so much criticism, but overall, it gave me a strong impression of being a large-scale local event or festival rather than an exhibition."

Although it is impossible to turn back the past, some say that since a large amount of taxpayers' money has been invested, efforts should now be made to plan for future use of the facility or a legacy that can be used as a purpose of the event.

Yeosu City and the organizing committee plan to operate President Joo Joon's theme hall, an island theme zone introducing domestic and foreign islands, and Vice President Gaedo's Island Fishing Village Culture Center as permanent facilities.

The organizing committee plans to promote the adoption of the Yeosu Island Declaration in conjunction with the closing ceremony and propose designating an 'Island Day' to the United Nations (UN).

Kim Jong-gi, Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee, said, “The Island Expo is a proposal to view islands as objects to be protected, not as tourist destinations to stop by for a while.” He added, “We will make sure that the proposal that started in Yeosu becomes a starting point for the world’s islands to find answers together even after the closure.”