EXPO 2025 Osaka: The Verdict!

Here’s my report of my visit to Expo 2025 Osaka, and about how destinations from around the world are using this unique 6-month showcase event to inspire high-yield travelers of all ages.

Walking through Sou Fujimoto’s magnificent Grand Ring – a true masterpiece that remained refreshingly cool and breezy even during today’s scorching summer heat – I watched my seven-year-old daughter’s eyes light up at each pavilion.

The Grand Ring – the largest timber structure in the world

However, the sweltering heat highlighted a missed sustainability opportunity. Long queues formed at the limited water refill stations, while vending machines and vendors continued selling plastic water bottles. The elevated skyway besides providing superb views over the entire Expo, but remarkably, also offered water refill stations with no crowds (a hidden secret).

Busy water refill stations attract long waiting lines.

Every pavilion should have featured its own refill station – not just for visitor comfort, but as a powerful statement about reducing single-use plastics and combating climate change. For an Expo themed “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” this oversight felt particularly glaring.

The Evolution of Travel Inspiration

A visit to Expo 2025 Osaka with my daughter became a profound lesson in how destinations can leverage global platforms to inspire high-yield travelers and tap into the powerful realm of passion tourism. As someone who has spent over three decades studying how destinations can authentically connect with visitors, what I observed at Yumeshima Island offers invaluable insights for tourism professionals worldwide.

Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan Official Website

World Expo 2025 will be held in Osaka, Kansai, Japan! Designing Future Society for Our Lives.

View over Expo 2025 with Ireland, USA, and France pavilions in the background.

Granted, we need to recognize that while the national tourism board of the respective countries may have a role to play in their country’s participation at Expo, it is usually other government agencies that lead the organization of their pavilion, primarily the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Economy and Trade, with a focus on investment.

While tourism is a priority for most countries, it may not be the only or ultimate priority, as becomes apparent when examining some of the official pavilion websites. Some countries do not have an official Expo pavilion website, and some remain under maintenance or construction, which can be confusing.

The Popularity Paradox: What Long Lines Tell Us

What is the most telling indicator of an Expo pavilion’s tourism marketing success? The length of its queue.

Long waiting lines at the China House.

It’s worth noting that the majority of visitors are from Japan, followed by China. By late April, the China Pavilion had already welcomed nearly 90,000 visitors, averaging over 5,700 guests per day and reaching up to 8,000 on weekends.

This is a powerful demonstration of visitor demand that directly translates into destination appeal, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of combining cultural heritage with technological innovation for diverse visitor segments. The Chinese pavilion’s AI-powered Sun Wukong character, also known as the Monkey King (a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices), creates real-time poetry and art representing the future of interactive destination marketing.

Long waiting lines at the Saudi Arabia Pavilion.

Consistently long lines at the pavilions hosted by the US, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Philippines, China, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Portugal, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Oman, and Türkiye proved to be more than crowd management challenges. They were proof of successful country branding, and the striking design of their respective pavilions.

Long lines at the US Pavilion.

Canada’s pavilion proved particularly strategic in its approach to the Japanese market. The sophisticated AR storytelling created immersive regeneration narratives that transformed visitors from observers into participants in Canada’s sustainability story. This is precisely the type of engagement that resonates with Japanese families who represent high-value tourism segments.

Interactive AR experience in Canada.

Understanding visitor demographics is crucial for interpreting pavilion popularity. With the Expo’s primary audiences being domestic Japanese visitors, plus large numbers of Chinese tourists, the success of certain pavilions directly correlates with their appeal to East Asian travelers.

Germany is temporarily closing access to the Pavilion.

Countries like Germany and France, drawing massive crowds, demonstrate their substantial brand equity in these markets. The queue length becomes a real-time measurement of destination marketing effectiveness among culturally sophisticated audiences who prioritize cultural depth and thought-provoking breadth over attractions offering superficial immediacy.

Strength-Based Strategy: Countries Playing to Their Advantages

A strength-based strategic approach provides an excellent framework for analyzing which countries are maximizing their 2025 Expo presence for tourism impact. The pavilions drawing the longest queues demonstrate a clear understanding of their unique advantages and how to leverage them effectively with large volumes of visitors of all ages.

The highly rated Singapore Pavilion with the spiral staircase from the Grand Ring.

Singapore’s 17-meter Dream Sphere, consistently packed with visitors, represents masterful strategic thinking. Singapore understands its strengths as an innovation hub and has connected these to attract tech-passionate travelers. Its pavilion embodies the nation’s aspiration to be where “dreams take shape.” The measurable results appear in both queue length and visitor engagement once inside the pavilion.

Australia Pavilion featuring bands in the evening.

Australia’s Chasing the Sun pavilion, with its perpetual crowds, also exemplifies this approach. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, Australia identified its strengths in natural beauty and outdoor lifestyle. These are paired with emerging adventure travel trends and an immersive day-to-night experience that makes visitors yearn to discover Australia’s sunrise-to-sunset culture for themselves.

South Korea has an amazing, large-screen display.

The popularity of these pavilions among Japanese visitors – Expo 2025’s primary demographic – demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of what drives travel decisions for Japanese travelers. Queue management becomes a real-time market research study.

Pakistan is featuring Himalayan Salt at the booth within one of the Common Pavilions.

The Commons pavilions host a myriad of small countries, mostly developing nations, in a trade-show-like layout, where each country has a small booth rather than a complete pavilion.

These are great places to find stimulating and original travel gems. Personally, the Pakistan pavilion was an eye-catching stand-out, as it was covered in real Himalayan pink salt!

Micro-niches as the Future of Smart Tourism Marketing

Beyond the crowd-drawing powerhouses, the most sophisticated pavilions target specific micro-niches rather than appealing to mass tourism. This strategy becomes even more crucial when considering that most visitors are Japanese travelers – an audience that values depth and cultural sophistication over generic experiences.

The very popular Austria Pavilion – no way to gain access.

Austria’s musical pavilion, requiring reservations due to popularity, demonstrating how effectively this micro-niche approach works with the Japanese market, masterfully uses interactive technology in its Cathedral of the Future, where visitors can shape AI-driven audiovisual shows.

The wooden spiral representing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy creates an emotional hook, appeals explicitly to music enthusiasts and cultural heritage seekers, but the interactive conclusion drives tourism conversion.

Switzerland was very busy, reflecting the country’s soft power.

Switzerland’s pavilion, with its four interconnected spheres filled with innovation, creates an “interactive and educational playground” experience targets sustainability enthusiasts and innovation seekers rather than traditional leisure travelers. The architectural boldness attracts attention, but the conceptual depth retains engagement from high-yield visitor segments who align with Japanese values around craftsmanship and environmental consciousness.

Thailand impressed with cultural authenticity.

Countries focusing on traditional crafts and cultural heritage find particular resonance with Japanese visitors. These are exactly the type of travelers who stay longer, spend more, are hungry for cultural experiences, and become destination advocates and ambassadors.

UAE showcasing Arabic Coffee as a symbol of Emirati Hospitality and Generosity (Hafawa).

This is passion tourism; travel motivated not by proximity or price, but by deep personal interests and emotional connections. The successful pavilions aren’t simply showcasing their countries; they’re identifying and sparking specific passions that directly influence travel decisions.

The Interactive Revolution: From Observation to Participation

Our pavilion visits revealed a critical insight: interactivity directly correlates with tourism inspiration. Canada’s AR experience had my daughter thoroughly engaged, using augmented reality to explore Canadian wilderness to cityscapes via simulated icebergs. This wasn’t passive observation – it was active participation that created lasting emotional memories.

Canada gave VIP access to Canadian citizens, Germany, on the other hand, did not, unfortunately.

In stark contrast, Mozambique’s pavilion, while culturally authentic, offered limited interactive elements. Visitors walked through beautiful displays but left without the deep engagement that drives future travel decisions.

Digital Nomads and the Future Workforce

My daughter’s fascination with technology demonstrations was embedded in another crucial trend I observed: the integration of technology narratives with destination marketing. Countries that successfully connect their technological capabilities to remote work opportunities are positioning themselves perfectly for the digital nomad market.

Portugal, an innovator in digital nomad visas, showcased working remotely as a viable investment option.

The most forward-thinking pavilions aren’t just showcasing technology; they’re demonstrating how their countries support the future of work. This represents a nuanced appreciation of how passion tourism intersects with lifestyle trends, particularly relevant for attracting Japanese professionals seeking work-life balance abroad.

The Storytelling Imperative

As founder of the Destination Film Forum, I was particularly impressed by how the best pavilions prioritized storytelling over statistics. While we couldn’t enter due to crowds, Italy’s pavilion looked magnificent from the outside, and I learned it features actual Caravaggio and Tintoretto works inside – promoting Italian tourism and immersing visitors in Italy’s artistic soul.

Vietnam’s pavilion exemplified authentic storytelling and created an immediate emotional connection through its cultural narrative.

This is the essence of effective destination marketing at Expo 2025: creating emotional connections that transcend traditional tourism promotion.