With its popularity diving like a scary roller-coaster, the World Carnival has brought in income equal to only 10 percent of its costs this summer.

"We're definitely not coming back," said Su Hai, the representative of the Freij Entertainment International, the foreign co-organizer of this year's World Carnival in Beijing, the Beijing Youth Daily reports.

This is the third summer that the World Carnival has come to Beijing. But in contrast to its fiery-hot popularity last year, the rides and games don't seem to be generating much interest among Beijingers any more.

In May and June, the daily visitors averaged around two to three hundred people per day, and never surpassed five hundred on weekdays. After a promotional campaign was launched in July, the daily number of visitors doubled and even reached four thousand people on weekends. This, however, was still far from the record twenty thousand daily visitors last year.

(Photo: Xinhua Net)

About a week ago, the Freij World Carnival reduced its entrance fee from 50 to 10 RMB, and the prices of 60 percent of the games were cut by 10 to 5 RMB, in an effort to regain people's attention. But their efforts failed again. This was the last straw.

"Beijing is no longer interested in the World Carnival," says Su Hai, "We have been taught a lesson in Beijing and paid a great deal for it."

In contrast, Zhang Shuhua, Board Chairman of the World Carnival Beijing Co., Ltd., the Chinese co-partner of the World Carnival events since 2004, has shown the determination to hold the World Carnival in Beijing again next year. "If the Freij has decided to quit, we will invite the World Carnival from the UK, who was our partner in 2004 and 2005."

Su Hai attributes the failure of this year's World Carnival to several reasons: First, with its opening in April, the event is scheduled to last for about 130 days, but April and May have proven to be not popular times to go to the carnival. In past years, the carnival opened in June.

Second, the World Carnival has been located at the same grounds for three years in a row, which might lead consumers to have the misconception that they are all the same. Compared with former carnivals' adult-size stuffed teddy bears and high-quality Disney toys, the souvenirs offered at the World Carnival this year are not very appealing. And third, inadequate advertising also contributed to the World Carnival's diving popularity.

The Egypt-styled "Mummy" theme park in Chaoyang District, as well as the Chinese theme park giant "Happy Valley," that opened in July, have created a fierce battle for market share among theme parks in the capital city this summer.

(CRIENGLISH.com August 25, 2006)