Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia'€™s annual travel fair is attracting big crowds as travel enthusiasts are on the lookout for cheap tickets for both overseas and domestic trips.

The fair, being held at Cendrawasih and Plennary hall at the Jakarta Convention Center, has given visitors the opportunity to find attractive and affordable travel packages to major tourist destinations.

Many visitors, however, are not looking for leisure trip tickets. '€œI'€m planning on visiting my daughter in Japan next March. I read about this fair so my husband and I have come to look for cheap tickets,'€ said Lilis, one of the visitors.

Other visitors, such as Martalina, visited the fair to find cheap tickets to the eastern region of Indonesia. '€œI'€™ve visited Kalimantan and Sulawesi so now I want to visit Ambon,'€ she told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, Sukma went to the fair to compile brochures for her boss, who was planning on traveling to China. '€œThere aren'€™t lots of promotions. There are cheap travel packages but there are expensive packages too,'€ she said.

Tourism organizations from several countries also took part in the expo to share information about tourist destinations in their respective countries. '€œWe are giving away gifts and 10,000 won vouchers for customers who buy tickets or trips to South Korea,'€ said Korea Tourism Organization marketing officer Akhmed Faezal.

Japan joined the event for the first time following Garuda'€™s new Jakarta'€“Osaka route, which will start next November. '€œIndonesia is growing in potential,'€ said Japan National Tourism Organization director Ryu Ito. Japan had targeted 160,000 visitors from Indonesia this year, Ito added.

Other destinations such as Macau also setup booths at the fair. '€œVisitor numbers to Macau have increased almost 6 percent annually. Not bad for a small country,'€ said Ningsih Chandra, communication manager of the Macau Government Tourist Office in Indonesia.

A special '€œhappy hour,'€ program is giving big discounts for one hour for both domestic and international flights, said Garuda Indonesia marketing and sales executives vice president Eric Meijer.

'€œBut the seats are limited,'€ he said. The happy hour times were 11 a.m. until noon and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., he added.

Unfortunately, some customers were not aware of the '€œhappy hour'€ program. '€œIt'€™s already 11: 30 p.m. and I don'€™t see it [the happy hour program],'€ said Sukma, a visitor.

This year'€™s event had 20 percent more exhibitors compared to last year, Meijer said. It also introduced the new first class in Garuda'€™s new Boeing 777-300ER plane.

'€œWe raised our target this year,'€ said Garuda Indonesia president director Emirsyah Satar after the opening of the Garuda Travel Fair. At this year'€™s fair, Garuda expected to see Rp 60 billion in transactions, up from the Rp 45 billion in 2012, Emir said. As for visitors, Garuda expected 4,000 to 5,000 people, he added.

The 2013 Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair (GATF) kicked off on Friday and will end on Sunday. The fair offers discounts and promotions as well as special deals for customers of Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), the event'€™s partner. (nai)

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