Saving the best for last
Tens of thousands search for last-minute deals on final day
KUALA LUMPUR: Unfazed by the lack of parking space and traffic jams, travel shoppers continued to pour into the Putra World Trade Centre looking for deals on the last day of the KL MATTA Fair 2012.
Organising chairman John Tan said this year’s fair received better response than expected.
“On Friday, we prepared 20,000 bags, but 24,800 people came. On Saturday, we increased the number of bags to 30,000, but we fell short by 4,500,” he said at the fair yesterday.
He added that they had prepared even more bags for the last day as travel agents would try to “lelong” their deals.
“Even before the fair started, we had a breakthrough in terms of the number of booths. Looking at the response so far, I believe we will achieve our targeted participants and revenue,” he said.
Tan revealed that one domestic travel agent had told him on Friday that he made more sales that day than all three days put together during last year’s fair.
Local island holidays and cruise package deals, it seemed, were a big hit.
Borneo Divers and Sea Sports (Sabah) sales manager Ursula Michael said a large number signed up for diving and snorkelling packages at the Sipadan and Mabul islands in Sabah.
Avid traveller Chin Wei Tyng, 35, had come to the fair intending to purchase a travel package to Sipadan island.
“People travel from all over the world to see the island and we Malaysians should appreciate the beauty right on our doorstep,” said the sales executive who is a licensed diver.
Newlyweds Yusof Hamid, 26, and Nurliffa Abdullah, 25, had chosen to spend their honeymoon on Mabul island.
“We want a place where we can just relax and enjoy each other’s company,” said Nurliffa, adding that she and her husband both enjoyed snorkelling.
Civil servant Mohd Shahnizan Mohd Amran, 30, said the fair offered many “island hopping” packages.
“We will start in Langkawi and then make our way to Pulau Payar and the smaller surrounding islands,” he said.
A representative from Pearl Holidays said the travel agency’s top seller at the fair was their fourday-three-night package to Redang Island.
Meanwhile, Star Cruises vice-president of sales Cynthia Lee said that during the first two days of the fair, more than 1,000 people had bought its three-night Penang-phuket-krabi cruise package.