Jakarta Fair warms up with visitors<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Visitors numbers to the 2004 Jakarta Fair are rising, reaching
\nalmost 740,000 as of Friday evening, two weeks after its opening
\non June 17, organizers said.<\/p>\n
Project director Ralph R. Schuneman said on Saturday 739,156
\npeople had bought tickets to the fair. The figure is 13 percent
\nhigher than the period's cumulative number of visitors of 652,402
\nreached last year.<\/p>\n
\"We estimate some 100,000 visitors will come tonight,\" he told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Schuneman said about Rp 120 billion (US$12.9 million) passed
\nhands in transactions at the fair.<\/p>\n
Fair management Jakarta International Expo and Jakarta
\nPropertindo, which had organized the annual event for the first
\ntime, expect 2.2 million visitors to turn up during the one
\nmonth-event and to generate transactions of up to Rp 250 billion.<\/p>\n
Last year's fair drew 1,760,315 visitors and about Rp 208
\nbillion in transactions.<\/p>\n
An Olympic Furniture saleswoman, who did not want to be
\nidentified, said visitors' purchasing power was low.<\/p>\n
\"So far, we have only reached 25 percent of our target,\" she
\nsaid last Friday.<\/p>\n
The fair, now in its 37th year, was less crowded than in
\nprevious years, she said. \"Maybe it's because of the Euro (four-
\nyearly soccer championship)... It was the same in 2000.\"<\/p>\n
Schuneman disputed the slow sales comments, saying it depended
\nmuch on the individual expo participants. \"Last year, the first
\nand second weeks were slow as well, but after that the
\ntransactions shot up,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another visitor, Anto, who came with his wife and two
\nchildren, said the fair used to be so packed with visitors, it
\nwas hard for them to move.<\/p>\n
\"People don't come because they (now) have to pay for children
\naged three and up,\" said Anto. The last time the family went to
\nthe fair in 1999, children younger than 11 got in free, he said.<\/p>\n
The entrance fees stand at Rp 8,000 per person on weekdays,
\nand Rp 10,000 per person on weekends. Additional fees apply to
\nselect attractions inside the fair, such as Rp 8,000 for a
\nregular seat and Rp 15,000 for a VIP seat at the Shaolin kungfu
\nperformance and Rp 10,000 for the lanterns pavilion.<\/p>\n
\"Just imagine how much money I've had to spend here,\" Anto
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
However, other visitors thought the ticket prices were
\nreasonable. \"It's still cheaper than other entertainment venues,
\nlike Ancol (Dreamland), for example,\" said Frans Situngkir, a
\nlawyer at a firm in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I like that (the management) put new attractions here,\" he
\nsaid as he sat in the lanterns pavilion. This year, two new shows
\nwere introduced -- the Shaolin kungfu show and Negeri Dongeng
\n(Fairy Land) for children. The lanterns pavilion attraction
\ndebuted at the last festival.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jakarta-fair-warms-up-with-visitors-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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