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THE Sepang International Circuit will stage the 10th Malaysian Grand Prix on March 23, and organisers are targeting a record 50,000 foreign visitors.
But, with excitement building up to Formula One's first night race here in September, some Singaporeans who have been regulars at the Kuala Lumpur circuit have decided to give it a miss this time round.
Local travel agents who market tour packages for the Sepang race have noticed a slight drop in enquiries and bookings.
'It has been slower compared to past years,' noted Magdalene Ma, operations manager at Fascinating Holidays.
The firm, which has been selling Malaysian F1 packages the past few years, is seeing a 10 to 20 per cent decline compared to previous years.
It usually sees about 150 people snapping up its packages. A three-day, two-night package, including coach transfers and hotel stay, starts from $315.
Another established player, Luxury Tours & Travel, reported a similar decline in sales.
Its packages start from $138 for a day trip without tickets. Costs rise to about $200 with a hillstand ticket.
In contrast, someone who decides to stay put here can catch the Singapore F1 for as little as $168.
Luxury's general manager Rendy Wong said: 'With Singapore staging the first race, I think some of the older people, or those new to the sport, aren't willing to make the trip up.'
One such fan is Terry Tan. The 47-year-old technical officer, who has caught the Sepang race on four occasions, said: 'I've decided to support our home event.'
Others who have been to Sepang also gripe about the heat on race day, which can hit 40 deg C.
Then there are the traffic woes, with massive jams which sometimes double the time for the Kuala Lumpur to Sepang journey to two hours.
In contrast, Singapore's Sept 28 race will be staged at night and in the centrally-located Marina Bay district.
But some hard-core race fans are not going to let the Singapore F1 sway their plans. Singaporeans like Anand Vathiyar are ready to brave the weather and jams.
'I was in Sepang for their first race in 1999, so it'll be nice to go there again for the 10th edition,' said Vathiyar, who is 41 and works in the public relations industry.
Sepang is clearly not letting up either. It is advertising aggressively in a bid to woo Singaporeans for the Good Friday weekend race.
Advertisements in the local print media have gone up significantly compared to last year.
The organisers hope to push spectator figures from the 115,000 last year to 125,000 for this year's race.
This year, advertising and promotions manager Azlan Akil said organisers are targeting about 50,000 tourists - 10,000 more than last year.
The bulk of these tourists are expected to come from Singapore, which contributed about 20,000 fans last year.
Sepang media officer Azhar Ghazali said yesterday ticket sales were good and on track to meet the 125,000 target.
Meanwhile, local travel agents are hoping that sales will pick up in the next few days.
'Singaporeans are notoriously last-minute when it comes to such things,' said Wong of Luxury Tours & Travel. 'Let's hope for the best.'
limze@sph.com.sg
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