70,000 more hotel rooms projected by 2003
70,000 more hotel rooms projected by 2003
JAKARTA (JP): The government predicts that more than 70,000
additional star-rated hotel rooms will come on the market during
the Seventh Five-year Development Plan (Repelita VII), raising
the country's total number of hotel rooms to 332,881.
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave said
the projection was based on hotel investment plans approved by
the Investment Coordinating Board and on the probability of the
projects being realized.
"During the Repelita VII period, which will end in March 2004,
we estimate that 99,790 additional hotel rooms will be
established, including 70,770 star-rated and 29,790 non-star-
rated hotel rooms," he told a seminar Wednesday.
He said that during the Sixth Five-year Development Plan
period to end March 1999, 38,470 additional hotel rooms,
including 24,510 star-rated and 13,960 non-star-rated rooms,
would become available.
The government had set a target of 100,000 new hotel rooms for
the development plan period, between April 1994 and March 1999.
There were 194,551 hotel rooms and 8,674 hotels in June this
year. Of the hotels, 710 were star-rated containing 67,562 rooms,
and 7,964 were non-star-rated containing 129,989 rooms. From
January 1994 to June 1996, 836 new hotels containing 19,414 rooms
came on the market.
Last year, 4.32 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia.
They spent US$5.2 billion. The country expects to earn more than
$6.57 billion this year from five million overseas visitors.
The government predicts that tourism will be the country's
largest foreign exchange earner by 2005. It projects 11 million
international tourists will arrive, spending at least $15
billion.
The proportion of foreign tourists staying at star-rated
hotels here increased steadily from 81.19 percent in 1991 to
81.95 percent in 1992, to 82.19 percent in 1993 and to 88.15
percent in 1994.
Promotions
Joop said the government expected to collect Rp 1 billion
($427,000) next year from companies to pay for an overseas
tourist campaign.
"Promotion is still the biggest weakness in developing the
country's tourist industry. The main reason is that we don't have
money to launch continuous promotions," he said.
"The Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board will soon sign
cooperation agreements with five private associations to collect
money for more intensive promotions."
He said the associations included those grouping duty-free
shops, garment producers, fruit and retail businesses.
The tourist board's chairman, Tanri Abeng, said the
associations would provide funds to pay for the board's promotion
program.
The board's budget for overseas tourist promotions is
strained. The board owed Rp 21.98 billion last year to
advertising agencies and other parties for its promotions.
The board, under a presidential decree, is supposed to receive
two percent of the 10-percent local development tax imposed on
hotels and restaurants in the provinces of North and West
Sumatra, Jakarta, West, Central and East Java, Yogyakarta, Bali,
North and South Sulawesi. Local administrations in the provinces
are required to send two percent of their collections to the
Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications, which passes
the money on to the board.
The board received Rp 5.92 billion in the 1994/1995 fiscal
year, far short of the government's target of Rp 55.99 billion.
In 1995/1996, the board received Rp 1.22 billion of the
government's targeted Rp 64.17 billion. (icn)