On last Sunday, which was the last day of this year's Shanghai Pudong Global Carnival, the activities on offer attracted a record high, some 100,000 visitors. But the organizers say they still didn't make a profit.

About 3,000 people were already queuing up at the entrance to the Carnival at half past 9 on Sunday morning, forcing the organizers to open their doors some 10 minutes before the normal opening time.

A couple wanting to take the Flume Ride said they had started to line up at noon, but still didn't get their turn till half past 4 pm.

Despite the throngs of people on the final day, the organizers say it still won't be enough to put the Carnival in the black. But, if it hadn't been for several wet weekends, a delayed opening and an employee accident during the Carnival’s run, they could have been looking at a profit of 20 percent or more.

That's why the organizers worked out all sorts of ways to lure visitors. Free-entry and reduced charges for some rides, were amongst the most effective attractors. During the last three days of the Carnival, the organizer waived the 50-yuan entrance fee and offered discounts on five different rides. The cost of taking a Flume Ride, for example, being chopped from eight tokens, or a cost of 40 yuan, to only two tokens, or ten yuan.

The organizer declined to specify how much money was taken at the Carnival, only saying that they had welcomed 1 million visitors since opening on September 30, two days later than originally scheduled.

Operators of food stands in the carnival park echoed the disappointment at organizer level, complaining that their daily gross takings barely exceeded 1,000 yuan.

However, the major overseas organizer for the Carnival, the Freij Entertainment Company Limited didn't see this year as a failure. They told local media that Shanghai is an ideal location for their carnival, which has traveled to dozens of countries worldwide, and they've gathered valuable lessons for the future from this year's Carnivals in Beijing and Shanghai.

The company said that, given the younger generation is their major target group, they may adjust the timing of the Carnival to July or August to allow more students to enjoy the fun during their long summer vacation. They also might reduce the rides for kids and replace those by some more exciting ones. And they have nominated cost control as yet another key to securing satisfactory profits. Freij say they'll also try in the future to transport some of the rides from nearby countries in Asia instead of shipping all the rides from Europe.

This year's Carnival lasted 54 days, already quite a bit shorter than last year's 76. But insiders suggest the Carnival may be further reduced to just 1 month to minimize wasted days.

Large-scale carnivals like this one have only been a feature of China's landscape since 2003, so many people have been motivated to come out of simple curiosity. This new form of entertainment poses a great challenge to conventional entertainment parts, the majority of whom already can't make ends meet. But the carnivals themselves are also facing problems in cultivating a loyal consumer base.

(CRIENGLISH.com November 23, 2005)