Shopaholics and tourists are expected to flock to Jakarta as the capital hosts the annual Jakarta Great Sale Festival with special offers and discounts at shopping centers and stores across town.
Governor Fauzi Bowo opened the festival on Friday. The event wraps up on July 14 and hopes to help turn the capital into one of the major shopping destinations in the region and the world.
This year, 73 malls and shopping centers will take part in the festival to celebrate Jakarta’s 485th anniversary, offering discounts of up to 70 percent.
The annual event, which is organized by the Indonesia Shopping Center Association and Jakarta municipality, is expected to rack up Rp 10 trillion ($1.1 billion) in sales, which would be a 22 percent increase from last year’s Rp 8.2 trillion.
Previous festivals lasted only a month, in the weeks leading up to June 22, when Jakarta celebrates its anniversary. But this year’s event has been extended for two weeks, which should help organizers reach the higher sales target.
Fauzi praised the partnership between the provincial government and retailers as a key to the event’s success.
“If we [the government] did it just by ourself, I doubt the festival would be a success,” the governor said.
The Jakarta Great Sale Festival also includes cultural events, said the shopping center association’s chairman Handaka Santosa. “Aside from boosting transactions for the retail, entertainment and recreation sectors, we want to promote Jakarta to international tourists,” he said.
Handaka, vice president of property developer Agung Podomoro Land, is also chairing the organizing committee for this year’s festival. “In addition to retailers, the festival is also being supported with special offers from Garuda Indonesia, restaurants, hotels, travel agencies and other recreational facilities in Jakarta,” he said.
The goal, he said, is to make the Jakarta Great Sale Festival one of the most famous shopping events and compete with similar festivals in the region.
“Other events in the region, like the Singapore Great Sale, have higher prices compared to the Jakarta Great Sale Festival, so we have an advantage,” he added.
Handaka said the organizing committee, with the help of state-owned toll operator Angkasa Pura, has promoted the festival as far as the Middle East. (Jakarta Globe)
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