Final preparations underway for World Ag Expo

TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Hundreds of thousands of people are getting ready to head out to the Tulare for the World Ag Expo.

Gates will open to the public on Tuesday morning, and on Sunday afternoon vehicles were making their way up and down the grounds of the International Agri-Center carrying valuable equipment for those last-minute touches.

"They are welding, they are putting things together, they are dressing up their lots and just getting ready to put on a show for all the attendees," says World Ag Expo marketing manager Jennifer Fawkes.

This year, the three day event is expected to draw out a massive crowd. Fawkes says they anticipate at least 105,000 attendees from around the world.

That will nearly triple the population of Tulare, which means increased business for the city.

"The hotels are full, restaurants will be busy and that will be from Bakersfield to Fresno and sometimes a little beyond," says Fawkes.

As of Sunday afternoon, only a handful of hotel rooms were available in Tulare and the cheapest was almost $300 per night.

Rosa Ramirez is the general manager of Cool Hand Luke's, which is only a few miles away from the International Agri-Center.

She says her resturant sees a huge boost in revenue during the World Ag Expo, "We are super busy actually, we do get a bump of 50% on our sales."

With an increase of people coming to the expo, Fawkes is says they're doing their part to protect from diseases like the Coronavirus.

Because of the travel ban their will be no exhibitors from China this year.

As a precaution, extra hand washing and sanitizing stations will be added throughout the grounds.

"With the travel ban, the government did a great job of really looking at this health issue and making sure that they did the right thing for safety," says Fawkes.

The World Ag Expo starts this Tuesday and gates open at 9 am.

People can buy their tickets online and use code "ABC30" to get $3 off each ticket.