Korea - Expo 2012 - Yeosu, South Korea

For those that don't know, Expo 2012 will be held in Yeosu, South Korea from May 12 - August 12 this year.

I'm in the process of earning the last few thousand miles to book award tickets in F to ICN for my wife and I. This will be our first trip to Korea so we're planning to book an award stay in Seoul for a couple of days and then either rent a car or catch a train to Yeosu. Arrangements for that part of the trip are less clear.

Thus far I have not been able to find many hotel options, international or otherwise, in Yeosu proper or anywhere in the immediate vicinity. There is a Hilton Golf & Spa resort on Namhae Island, which is not far from Yeosu as the crow flies, but the ferry schedule seems to be rather limited and the trip by car is ~90km by car.

I don't mind paying for a hotel if there aren't any options for award stays, but I was hoping I'd find someone on here who has visited the area before. Any tips on hotels, restaurants, and other nearby attractions would be greatly appreciated.



Here are some useful links for anyone that might be interested in the Expo:
Official site - http://eng.expo2012.kr/main.html
Blog - http://2012expo.wordpress.com/ - blog
Videos & More Information - http://expomuseum.com/2012/

Since this query is specific to a region, we'll shift this to the Asia forum for further discussion. Thanks! :) /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

Yeosu is a very pretty area, and a good jumping off point from the southern coast. However, international class hotels in Yeosu proper and the area are limited at best. There is a group fronting the sea in downtown Yeosu (Bellagio (여수벨라지오관광호텔), Tiffany's (티파니관광호텔), etc.) that are all probably 3* hotels at best. Not the worst hotels in the world, but not 5* luxury either. As far as I know, there are no international chain hotels in the area.

As an aside, I was at the Bellagio one time and went up for breakfast at about 0715, and they told me that I needed to hurry as the restaurant closed for breakfast at 0730! :eek:

The Chambord Hotel (여수샹보르관광호텔) is pretty close to the Expo location. I have never stayed there so cannot comment on it.

Bellagio hotel website : www.blghotel.com
Tiffany Website: www.tiffanyhotel.net

Are you gung ho on going to the Expo? If not, I would skip it and see other parts of Korea. In any case, I have a feeling that hotel rooms will be hard to come by during the expo.

Suncheon is the next "big" town" (about the same size as Yeosu) and has about the same type of hotels.

I'm sure the expo website will recommend you area hotels.

Are you gung ho on going to the Expo? If not, I would skip it and see other parts of Korea.
.

The Expo is actually the reason for the trip. I've always been very interested in the relics and footage of past expos, or "world's fairs" as they were once known, and this will be my first (of many I hope).

Nonetheless, we are going to stop for a bit in Seoul and are considering renting a car for the trip to Yeosu so we can see more of the country along the way. Any specific recommendations would be very welcome.

Thanks for the hotel info. I don't require five-star accommodations, so I will definitely give these a look. I've also emailed the Hilton property on the nearby island to see if the ferry service has a schedule we could work with.

Was a previous edition of the same expo held in Shanghai last year (or a few years back)..??

That's correct!

Expos (World's Fairs) have been held for quite a while - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world%27s_fairs. In recent years a bit more structure has been added to the hosting process. Recognized Expos are now held only once every 2-3 years. Those are broken into 2 categories. Universal Expositions (very large, open for 6 months), like the one in Shanghai, are held on years ending in 0 and 5. International Expositions (smaller scale, open for 3 months), like this year's expo are held once in a year ending in 2/3 or 7/8, between two Universal Expos

Shanghai's Expo 2010 was the highest attended expo in history, with something like 70 million visitors. I was dying to visit but I was starting a new job that required me to be in India for 3 months during that time and I couldn't make the trip. :(

At least 106 countries have confirmed their participation in this year's expo, whose theme is "The Living Ocean and Coast". The last projection I heard was for 8 million visitors


Expomuseum.com (http://www.expomuseum.com/) is a great resource for more information

Hi All

I'm looking for a day to day program for the expo, is the anyone who has an electronic version of it, would really appreciate it.

thanks

Hi All

I'm looking for a day to day program for the expo, is the anyone who has an electronic version of it, would really appreciate it.

thanks

The daily schedule of performances is usually posted on the Expo's blog each day - https://2012expo.wordpress.com/

The pavilions are open from 9am-9pm.