Amman - Everyday, 5,000 to 6,000 people are queuing up to experience the sensation of floating in a mini replica of the Dead Sea at the 180-day 2005 World Exposition in the Japanese city of Aichi.
According to participants at the fair, the Jordanian pavilion is receiving huge attention from Japanese and international participants and the media.
"The total number of visitors is expected to exceed 1.5 million by the end of the fair," said Osama Qutaishat, managing director of Universal Labs Ltd. a Dead Sea products supplier. "They walk into the pavilion for one sole purpose: to see, feel and experience the Dead Sea."
The recreation of the Dead Sea includes a small pond of real Dead Sea water, salt, rocks and mud.
Visitors at the international fair are guided to an elevator that takes them into a dimmed corridor overlooking the artificial Dead Sea. They are then provided with a swimming suit and a towel so they can sample the unique Dead Sea experience, or for the less adventurous, just enjoy a facial with Dead Sea products.
According to Qutaishat, the "tremendous influx of people is generating a lot of interest in Jordan as a country and the Dead Sea as a vacation spot."
Visitors to the Jordanian pavilion also get the chance to view Jordanian plants, handicrafts and folk art, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Petra said the national committee tasked with preparing the Kingdom's participation at the fair selected the Tafileh folk troupe and the Jordan Armed Forces band to perform on the "Kingdom's day," scheduled for July 5.
A few months ago, Takako Nakata, deputy director of the exhibition's public relations team, told The Jordan Times that 80 of the 125 countries participating will be given national days, allowing them to have performances, dinners and other activities representing their culture.
On each country's national day, "there will be a prime minister or a head of state visiting and lots of dances and events," Nakata said in a recent interview at the fair's location, a forest area in the eastern Nagoya hills.
Also, the pavilion's organising committee will give a seminar on the sidelines of the fair offering information about investment opportunities in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom's exports to Japan totalled $16.6 million in 2004, while imports stood at $263 million.
The organising committee members include representatives of the ministries of finance, planning, trade and industry, the Jordan Investment Board, the Jordan Tourism Board, Royal Jordanian and the Jordan Television and Radio Corporation.
The exhibition was opened on March 25, and will conclude on Sept. 25.
By Rami Abdelrahman
© Jordan Times 2005
