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)