Jakarta Fair attracts fewer than expected

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The capital's annual month-long fair, the Jakarta Fair (PRJ), which was held at Kemayoran Fairground, was officially closed on Sunday, with the organizing committee complaining about the lack of visitors.

Spokesman of the PRJ organizing committee Adhie M. Massardi, said two million visitors had been expected to visit the fair. "However, only 1.7 million visitors came in the end. Between 50,000 and 60,000 people visited the fair every day, with more on Saturdays and Sundays."

More than 100,000 people visited the fair each Saturday, which peaked at 130,268 visitors last Saturday, the fair's penultimate day.

Adhie, former spokesman for former president Abdurrahman Wahid, said he did not know why they had not been able to attract the predicted level of visitors.

"We will carry out a review. Maybe we set the target too high," he said.

Last year, the organizing committee expected 1.7 million visitors, but the actual number was only 1.5 million.

Adhie assumed the recent soccer World Cup, broadcast live by local private television RCTI from Japan and Korea was the main reason why fewer than expected visitors turned up, saying there was a significant drop in the number of visitors on the days that the semifinals and finals were held.

Poor transportation to and from the fairground may also have contributed to the low turnout, he said.

Before the fair was opened, the city administration boasted additional public bus services for prospective visitors. The buses were supposed be ready at strategic spots, including star- rated hotels to pick up people to take them to the fair. The plan didn't work.

Another plan was that public buses plying routes to areas close to the fairground in Kemayoran were expected to extend their services to take people to the fair.

"This plan also didn't work out," he said.

"Transportation is what we have to concentrate on for next year's fair, because for many people the site is difficult to reach," he added.

There was an increase in revenue from entrance ticket sales though, totaling Rp 10 billion (US$1.1 million), Rp 1.5 billion more than last year. Adhie said this was probably due to the fact that last year's tickets were only priced at Rp 5,000, while this year's tickets were priced at Rp 6,000 from Monday to Friday and Rp 7,500 at weekends.

Some 1,600 participants, including government institutions, took part in this year's fair, compared to 1,400 participants last year.

He said the fair collected a total of Rp 3.5 billion from food and beverage sales. However, when asked about the amount of business transactions during the fair, Adhie said the sum would only be known on Tuesday or Wednesday.

He said the targeted amount for trade transactions was Rp 200 billion. "We may exceed the target. Daily business transactions are estimated to have been between Rp 40 million and Rp 50 million."

Last year, the amount of business generated amounted to Rp 160 billion.

Cultural and musical shows spiced up the closing ceremony, which was led by chairman of the fair organizing committee Guruh Soekarnoputra.

Vice President Hamzah Haz opened the fair on June 14, which was followed by the grand opening on June 26 by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is Guruh's eldest sister.