Visitors enter through the main gate of the 2012 Yeosu Expo which started its three-month fair Saturday with the theme of “The Living Ocean and Coast.”

The Yeosu Expo officially kicked off its three-month, ocean-themed festival Saturday morning with great fanfare, attracting tens of thousands of visitors on the first day.

Kang Dong-seok, the chairman of the Expo organizing committee, declared the opening of the Expo at the southwestern coastal city, with an opening ceremony taking place in front of the digital gallery of the exhibition hall.

A total of 104 countries and 10 international organizations will stage exhibitions for 93 days until Aug. 12.

The number of visitors was smaller than expected as about 33,000 people, mostly locals, visited the venue on the opening day, according to organizing officials. The organizing committee had expected about 100,000 visitors on the first day.

Under the theme of “The Living Ocean and Coast,” the Expo will showcase the significance of the marine environment and tackle such challenging issues as global warming and resource depletion that are posing a grave threat to the survival of the mankind. It will also explore ways on how to preserve natural resources for future generations.

The Expo is the first international event approved by the Bureau of International Exhibitions (BIE) and hosted by South Korea since 1993 when it hosted Daejeon Expo.

The fair will open every day at 9 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. Tickets are priced between 19,000 won to 33,000 won ($16.6-28.7) for regular daily visitors.

Organizers aim to attract a total of 10 million visitors, including 550,000 from overseas, mostly from China and Japan.