Expo 2020 Dubai: More than 700,000 souvenir passports sold

If you put all the yellow booklets sold end to end, they would reach from Dubai to Abu Dhabi

On September 30, the day of the Expo 2020 Dubai opening ceremony, one passport was sold every three seconds from the Expo online store. Victor Besa / The National

On the same day, 19 passports were sold every minute on Amazon. Chris Whiteoak / The National

In less than two months, the world's fair has sold more than 700,000 Expo 2020 Dubai passports. Chris Whiteoak / The National

If you placed every Expo passport sold end to end, you would reach Abu Dhabi from Expo 2020 Dubai. Victor Besa / The National

Since it was launched in early September, the Expo 2020 Dubai passport has remained on Amazon's best sellers list. Victor Besa / The National

Lucky visitors could receive a free passport. The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs of Dubai is handing out 3,000 Expo 2020 Dubai passports to travellers entering the Emirates. Photo: GDRFA

The yellow passports for Expo 2020 Dubai are a runaway success.

According to event organisers, the Dh20 booklet has quickly become the must-have souvenir from the world’s fair, with sales greater than those of any previous expo.

Visitors are encouraged to use the 50-page passport to keep track of the pavilions they visit in the course of the six-month event. Each pavilion offers a different stamp at the exit.

The passports can be bought from all official Expo 2020 Dubai stores across the Dubai South site, the Expo 2020 store in Dubai Airports' Terminal 3 and online.

Here are five facts about the ubiquitous yellow booklets:

• If you placed each Expo 2020 passport sold end to end, they would reach from the Expo site in Dubai to Abu Dhabi
• More than 700,000 passports have been sold in less than two months
• On the night of the opening ceremony, September 30, one Expo passport was sold every three seconds
• Nineteen passports were sold per minute by Amazon that evening
• The passport has remained on Amazon.ae’s Toys bestseller list since its launch in September

An expo tradition

The Expo passport to collect all the stamps at each country's pavilion. James Langton / The National

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Vietnam.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Slovenia.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of New Zealand.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Lithuania.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Cuba.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Malta.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of China.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Greece.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Saudi Arabia.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Morocco.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Turkmenistan.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Singapore.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Azerbaijan.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Sweden.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Peru.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Russia.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Qatar.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Angola.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of the UAE.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Zambia on the 5th day of Expo 2020, Dubai.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Marshall Islands.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Nicaragua.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Seychelles.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Benin.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Montenegro.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Burkina Faso.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Netherlands.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Kuwait.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Maldives.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Antigua and Barbuda.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Moldova.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Tajikistan.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Switzerland.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Nigeria.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Austria.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of San Marino.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Spain.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Czech Republic.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Brazil.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of the UK.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Tunisia.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Italy.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Portugal.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Venezuela.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Bolivia.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of New Guinea.

Passport stamp for the pavilion of Bangladesh.

The first expo passport was introduced at the 1967 World Expo in Montreal.

This year, watermarked pictures appear on each page, and security features include a unique code number and space for personal details and a passport-sized picture.

One page is marked in gold foil to celebrate the UAE’s Golden Jubilee and to pay tribute to Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father.

Dubai's skyline and other elements relating to the UAE are also included in the illustrations.

Visitors will also receive an exclusive stamp on December 2, the UAE's 50th anniversary.

Meet the Expo super-fan