Shopping malls, entertainment centers and hospitality businesses are gearing up to indulge Jakarta families who prefer to celebrate Christmas outside home with various discounts, special packages and events.



Senayan City marketing and promotion general manager Halina said on Tuesday that the mall had been holding several events to celebrate Christmas since mid December.



'We already held the Midnight Sale and Morning Sale last week. There will also be other Christmas events like having a photo taken or dinner with Santa Claus,' she said. Halina said visitors could take pictures with Santa for Rp 100,000 (US$8) per photo.



Retailer Metro Department Store is offering customers vouchers, besides discounts and sales during its Christmas sale.



Metro advertising promotion head, Primanda Mantik, said the stores had been issuing 'Christmas stamps' that could be exchanged for shopping vouchers.



She added that customers could also participate in guessing the number of gift boxes in Santa's sacks displayed in the stores.



'The customers upload the number they estimate on our social media. The winners will get vouchers with total prizes up to Rp 25 million,' she said.



Metty Yan Harahap, the spokeswoman for PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, which operates the Ancol recreation park, said her company would add a special touch for Christmas in the park.



'We will have Santa Claus in Gelanggang Samudra [an oceanarium] during the dolphin shows,' she said.



Metty said Dunia Fantasi amusement park would also present a special musical performance of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl in one of its attractions, Treasure Land, during Christmas Day.



Metty said her company expected an increased number of visitors for the Christmas and New Year's holidays.



'We expect the number of visitors to increase 10 percent during Christmas Day,' she said, adding that the regular number of visitors to Ancol was 25,000 people a day.



Meanwhile, Sultan Hotel general manager I Nyoman Sarya said that although the number of visitors during Christmas did not usually increase, his hotel still offered special packages for those who celebrated it.



'We have a gala dinner in our restaurant. The guests can choose whether to eat buffet or set menu,' he said, adding that the buffet would be cheaper than the set menu.



Sarya said the number of room guests usually declined during Christmas. 'Christmas this year is included in a long weekend, so many people prefer to take vacations outside the city,' he said.



He said, however, that some local people would still come to enjoy Christmas dinner in the hotel. 'We will have bookings from 40 to 50 non-guests,' he said.



Apart from its commercial programs, Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, is holding a book drive to give an opportunity for guests to participate in charity work by donating books that can be dropped at its restaurant Kempi Deli.



'All books will be donated to Pondok Taruna Orphanage. Our team will treat you to hot or iced chocolate and marshmallows,' the Facebook page of the hotel states.



The donations will be accepted until Thursday.



Those looking for an alternative, free, activity at Christmas can visit @america, the US Embassy's high-tech cultural center, located in Pacific Place Mall in Central Jakarta.



@america will hold holiday movie screenings on Wednesday and Thursday. The films are Die Hard, Charlie Brown for Christmas, The Nightmare Before Christmas, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life.

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