LIVERPOOL’S pavilion at the World Expo, in Shanghai, opened in May for six months, beat its competitor cities with treble the number of visitors during its opening days.
However this translates into real investment in the city’s future remains to be seen.
But, as a grandstanding effort to show the city punching well above its weight, there is no doubt the exercise was a success.
Between 1,800 and 2,000 people visited the stand daily, compared to around 400 each at Venice and Pondicherry, India.
The £1.1m stand combined a video greeting from Sir Paul McCartney, football, maritime and a 3-D film featuring a Chinese dragon and a Liver Bird flying over the North West.
Lindsay Ashworth, development director of main sponsor Peel Holdings, said he was delighted with the way the pavilion was working.
He said: “I think it is fantastic. I could never decide whether it was going to work or not.
