World Expo Shanghai organizers?January?30, 2008,?signed a project sponsor agreement to support hotel reservation services during the Expo period.

HUBS1, a leading travel distribution marketplace in China, will provide hotel reservation services to participants and visitors during the six-month event.

scene of the signing ceremony [expo2010.cn]

Shanghai Expo has been building an accommodation community called Expo Village at the east end of the Expo site in Pudong Area for the participants, but other choices will also be available if the Expo Village does not satisfy their needs, said Zhu Xiangang, deputy director of the Operation Department of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

"We will encourage hotels within a two-hour driving distance from the Expo site to join our platform and make a good distribution of these resources," said Teddy Zhang, CEO of HUBS1.

HUBS1's online reservation system is available in Chinese, English and Japanese. It will launch a French edition later.

The organizers estimated that up to 10,000 workers from participating countries and international organizations will live in Shanghai during the Expo.

Construction of Expo Village started in February 2007. It will provide a range of accommodation including apartments, serviced apartments and hotels in a variety of price ranges. Rooms will not be rented to Expo visitors.

The entire village is expected to be completed by January 2010.

HUBS1, established in 2005 in Shanghai, is a bilingual online global reservation platform with a resource of more than 1,600 domestic hotels.

The company was the hotel reservation services provider for the Special Olympic Games in Shanghai last year.