Who will host World Expo 2030? Saudi Arabia, Italy and South Korea enter the race

Competition is heating up for the right to host the 2030 World Expo, a massive event that can generate revenue, jobs and global attention — if everything goes well.

Rome, the Saudi capital Riyadh, and South Korea's second-biggest city Busan presented their bids at a key meeting on Tuesday of the Paris-based International Bureau of Exhibitions. A vote among member countries is expected in November.

It financed a "Riyadh 2030'' exhibit in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower — a monument built for the 1889 World's Fair — and splashed ads on Paris taxis. Its crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is on a weeklong trip to France where he's meeting with top officials.

Italy's premier and South Korea's president, meanwhile, came to Paris in person to push their bids.

The Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa also submitted a bid for 2030 before Russia attacked Ukraine last year. With fighting still raging in Ukraine, Odesa's bid wasn't part of the official presentation Tuesday.

Arriving at Tuesday's event, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed confidence.

“I believe that Rome’s winning hand ... is being able to reconcile tradition and innovation,"' she said.

Rome is pledging to respect the environment and the "idea of cooperating with other nations that we are trying to represent, as well with our foreign policy that is never a ‘hit and run’ policy,'''' she said, according to news agency Lapresse.

Tourism accounts for 13% of Italy’s GDP, so it is a big driver of the national economy. The country hosted Expo 2015 in Milan and is gearing up to host the next Vatican Jubilee in 2025, with re-paving and other road construction to make mobility easier in the traffic-clogged Italian capital.

For Saudi Arabia, hosting the expo would boost the crown prince's push to diversify the kingdom’s economy and attract more foreign investment. The kingdom’s expo plan includes a massive public transit network, a major park and plan to turn Riyadh into an “open art gallery without walls,” said Fahd Al Rasheed, the CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.