Fewer fans, lower sales at Thailand Open
The way in to the stadium was as lively as ever, but the number of tennis fans attending this year’s Open was noticeably smaller than normal.
|
|
|
The atmosphere in front of Muang Thong Thani's Impact Arena, home of the Thailand Open 2006, was like a festival. Clowns in gaudy costumes and painted faces juggled balls before an enthusiastic crowd. Dancers in orange outfits cavorted to draw attention to a display of supplementary foods.
Overall, however, vendors at several booths admitted that business this year had dropped from last year. Fewer people came to the Thailand Open 2006 tennis tournament, which ended on Sunday, for many reasons. Heavy rainfall prevented many fans from leaving their homes. Some were also scared off by the military coup. "My mum is still afraid to go outside," one vendor said. The front of the stadium presented a familiar scene, with the spacious Singha Beer lounge in blue and white. But what was missing this year were actual tennis fans. "Last year, the crowds were full all the way to the entrance," said Orange, a Singha Pretty Girl [presenter] as she stood before a semi-empty lounge on Friday. "I guess they were afraid of the typhoon [Xangsane]." At a Thai Airways International (THAI) booth in front of the stadium, T-shirts designed by Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana especially for the event were the top-seller. The booth displayed a big cutout featuring Thai stars Paradorn Srichaphan and Danai Udomchoke as the models for the special T-shirts. THAI booth vendor Pvitri Pravitra Suanson said the T-shirts had sold out every day. On the first day of the event, customers brought 90 shirts but each day afterward, more than 100 were sold. However, Pvitri said the fans were obviously fewer than last year, by about 20 per cent, she estimated. A combination of factors - the coup, the economy and the typhoon - was behind the fall in numbers. Some sellers speculated that the absence of world No 1 Roger Federer might have attracted fewer fans to the event, but others argued that local tennis fans had become more familiar with the game and their favourite stars range now from Marat Safin, the Russian heart-throb, to world No 3 Ivan Ljubicic and James Blake, the American who won this year's event. Has Paradorn's declining world ranking affected the popularity of the tournament? In fact, Paradorn still attracted huge crowds to the stadium, even though his presence didn't make for a full house as in the first years of the tournament when the Thai ace was in top form. "The crowds of tennis fans are obviously larger on the days when Thai athletes play, both Paradorn and Danai," said a vendor at the Tekeda Booth, selling Vitamin-C products. She said this was the first year that Takeda had opened a booth, but it had attracted smaller crowds than the company expected. Still, the booth was a success in creating brand awareness among customers. In front of its stand, Takeda organised fun events featuring dancers and drummers in bright orange outfits. Prasitsak Silapachai, managing director of Amer Sports (Thailand), which had a big Wilson sports-products booth, agreed there was a smaller crowd of tennis fans this year. "Our sales had increased gradually every year until this year," he said, adding that the drop in sales was not that remarkable. But he said he still recognised a number of hard-core fans who come to the tournament every year. "It's fun to come here to meet with tennis-lover friends," he said.
Jeerawat Na Thalang The Nation
|
