Many are behind target as Jakarta Fair ends

Many are behind target as Jakarta Fair ends

JAKARTA (JP): Many businesses were behind in sales at the 29-
day Jakarta Fair which ended Saturday night, even though the
number of visitors increased.

Most businessmen participating in the Fair told The Jakarta
Post that they had failed to reach their sales targets.

Mah Wai Meng, the project manager of the Reptile Park
exhibition, said that he had expected to attract 2,000 to 3,000
visitors a day but only got around 1,000 on average.

As of Friday, 2,780,000 people had visited the Fair,
according to Suparmadi, public relations officer of the Fair
organizing committee. This is up compared to last year, which saw
1,884,810 visitors.

Mah said he was still trying to figure out why businesses were
unable to meet their targets.

"Given that this show was held here for the first time it
should have been able to lure more visitors," he added.

Dinosaur park

Raymond Ang, the project director of the Dinosaur Park,
confirmed that the number of visitors was less than he had hoped
for.

Ang said that, as of Friday, the park had attracted some
220,000 people instead of the 600,000 visitors he targeted.

According to Ang, 600,000 visitors were necessary to reach a
break-even point. "Apparently we will incur losses," he said. He
added that many visitors had used complementary tickets.

Fanny who sold batik dresses from Pekalongan, Central Java,
told the Post that last year she earned more than Rp 1 million
(US$462) every weeknight, with sales reaching upward of Rp 2
million on weekends.

"But in this year's Fair, I could get only between Rp 300,000
and Rp 400,000 a night," she said.

Tono, a seller of cotton candy, complained that there were too
much competition at this year's Fair. "Last year I sold 70 sticks
a day, now only 50," he said.

This sluggishness was also apparent at the parking lots
overlooking the Fair's main compound, where only a few food
stalls remained.

"Not many people eat here," said Ruslan, a food seller. "Many
of us no longer sell here and had to sub-rent the stalls," he
said.

However, they were certain that business would be better next
year because the fourth exhibition of Indonesian products (PPI)
will coincide with the next year's Jakarta Fair, serving to make
it a bigger and more important event.

Some other traders, however, said they had improved sales in
this year's Fair. Mulyadi, the supervisor of PT Cometstar
Elektrindo which sells electronic wares, said that his sales were
up 25 percent from last year.

"Last year we were situated in a small stall in one of the
Fair's halls. This year we're located out in the open," he said,
when asked the reason for this year's sales increase.

Sellers of plastic dolls called Black Steel Heroes -- a
Japanese TV series that has become popular among Indonesian
children -- were also among those who reaped bigger profits this
year.

Andi, one of the sellers, said he sold an average of a dozen
big dolls a day. These, at Rp 12,500 each, are quite expensive
for the average parent. (arf)