TMII visitors down during holiday

JAKARTA: The number of visitors to popular theme park Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta declined by 20 percent over the Idul Fitri holiday this year compared to last year, Tempo Interaktif reported on Saturday.

The news portal said that the park received only 88,133 visitors for the two-day Idul Fitri holiday this year, compared to 110,735 visitors last year.

TMII spokesman Markoes Legimin blamed the decline on the recent fuel price increases, which he said had forced potential visitors to stay at home to save money.

He also said that many people now preferred to visit areas of the park that did not require additional entrance fees, such as the area containing traditional houses from around the country.

"Places that are not free, such as the flower garden and Keong Mas Imax theater, received only 40 percent to 50 percent of the visitors," Markoes said. --JP