S Puvaneswary, Kuala Lumpur (2010-04-05)

TICKET sales for the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix, which ended yesterday, ballooned this year on the back of competitive package rates that were significantly lower than last year's.

Asia Experience saw a 200 per cent increase in sales this year over 2009, said senior account manager – MICE, Saini Vermeulen. The company brought package rates down by 20 per cent by negotiating hotel rates early and selling day passes on public transport rather than ferrying clients to the race circuit on its buses.

Parlo Tours reaped a 15 per cent hike in sales by marketing its packages early and reducing its profit margin by half, according to head of department Asia/ASEAN, Vivandra Raj.

This year's race attracted some 97,800 spectators, just slightly off the 100,000 target. The return of Michael Schumacher and the new Lotus team were among the major pull factors for the 2010 outing, said Sepang International Circuit chairman Mokhzani Mahathir.