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)