TMII benefits from long school holiday

TMII benefits from long school holiday

JAKARTA (JP): The two-week-long school break has benefited the
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah theme park in East Jakarta, an
official said on Saturday.

"We estimated there were nearly 750,000 visitors during the
school break. It's such a relief that visitors still choose our
theme park," Taman Mini spokesman Dandoel Hardoyono told The
Jakarta Post at his office.

"Most of our visitors were from middle and lower income
brackets. It's also surprising that the visitors came as far as
from East Java and cities in Sumatra," he added, pointing to
buses from North Sumatra, Jambi, and Riau in the parking lot.

Hardoyono said it was likely that the visitors were not
affected by the prolonged economic crisis.

"I guess krismon (the economic crisis) only hit city people
who rely on foreign currencies, but not those living in towns far
away from Jakarta," he said.

"Look at their faces -- all happiness, no sign of anxiety at
all. Or perhaps they have enough savings for their trip," he
added.

The 150-hectare park logged 25,000 visitors during weekdays
and 90,000 on weekends during the school break.

"It's triple our daily visitors of just 5,000 on weekdays and
35,000 on weekends under normal conditions," said Hardoyono.

"The figure was only second to the Idul Fitri holiday which
can reach more than 100,000 visitors in a single day," he added.

For Greater Jakarta residents, Hardoyono said, it was a
priority to fulfill the need for recreation by going to the theme
park.

"Imagine, they live in dense and crowded neighborhoods. It
(the holiday) is the only time for them to enjoy a small chance
to breathe the fresh air in such a vast area like this," he said.

"Most of them did nothing here. They just spread mattresses
under the trees and then had their lunch. It's such a contrast
when compared to their daily lives," he added.

Security

On the contrary, visitors from outside Jakarta emphasized
security conditions more before deciding to visit the theme park,
he said.

"They need a guarantee of security. If the media blew up some
violent demonstrations, we could be sure that the number of
visitors would drop sharply. Most of the time, they call us first
before coming to Jakarta," Hardoyono said.

"If we said it's okay for them to come, they will proceed with
their plan to visit the city," added Hardoyono.

"Look at what had happened when there were brawls in Matraman
(in East Jakarta). The media reported it as if it happened
throughout Jakarta. Matraman is just a little part of the
capital," he said.

The spokesman said generally such bad news posed more threats
to foreigners, who are very sensitive to security issues.

"The foreigners prefer to spend their holidays in Bali instead
of here, due to security problems. Let's hope nothing bad happens
there. Otherwise, our tourism sector will be doomed," said
Hardoyono.

When talking about tough competition in the entertainment
industry, he pointed to malls and shopping centers as the main
threat which absorbs most of visitors from the middle and top
income bracket.

"The residents find it more amusing to spend their time
strolling in the shopping centers, even if it's just for window
shopping," he said.

"It's, however, another case for the lower income bracket," he
added. (nvn)