Bali's star-rated hotels see fewer guests

By I. Christianto

NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): There were fewer luxury hotel guests in Bali during the 27-day election campaign, which ended Friday, local hoteliers said Saturday.

ITT Sheraton's director of sales and marketing James L. Papineau, said the average occupancy rate in star-rated hotels in Bali would reach 55 percent this month, down from 67 percent in the same period last year.

"The industry is soft compared with the same period in 1996 due to stiffer competition," he said.

Reports of mob violence during the campaign had discouraged foreign tourists from visiting Indonesia.

Jakarta travel agencies' executives said many foreigners had delayed their visits until after the election on Thursday.

Papineau said that Sheraton Laguna, which has 260 rooms, expected a 65 percent occupancy rate this month, down from 74 percent in the same month last year.

He said the 370-room Sheraton Nusa Indah would have a 72 percent occupancy rate, down from 90 percent last year.

"We are doing better than other hotels as we are targeting a different market and launching continuous promotions," he said.

He said the Sheraton's guests in Bali were 40 percent from Europe, 20 percent from Australia, 15 percent from Japan and 8 percent from the United States and North America, the others were from a mix of countries.

He said guest arrivals slightly decreased in May.

"Some groups canceled, others failed to get permits from the authorities in Jakarta," he said.

A number of refurbished and new international-standard hotels opened in Bali late last year including the Novotel Benoa, the Nikko Bali and the Ritz Carlton.

There are more than 40 luxury hotels in Bali, about half are managed by overseas hotel operators.

Sheraton runs 11 hotels in Indonesia. Three are in Bali, the Sheraton Laguna, Sheraton Nusa Indah and Bali International Convention Center.

General manager of Sheraton Laguna, Erhard Hotter, said Bali was still interesting, safe and not expensive.

"In the hotel industry, occupancy rates must get along with good room-rates, not with low rates," he said, adding that a discount war between star-rated hotels still existed in Bali.

Purnomo, front office manager of Bali Padma hotel, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend that his hotel predicted a 63 percent occupancy rate this month, down from an initial prediction of 77 percent.

"I think this is the impact (of the election), but May is not a high season. In May last year, we saw a 77.7 percent occupancy rate. But as of Friday, the figure was 67 percent," he said, adding the market would pick up in late June.

The 404-room Bali Padma, owned and run by the cigarette maker PT Djarum, is on Legian beach. The five-star hotel which opened in 1990 is mostly visited by Australians, Japanese and Europeans, Purnomo said.

Front office manager of Novotel Benoa, Made Wisnada, said his hotel expected a 74 percent to 80 percent occupancy rate in May.

"We are not affected by the campaign," he said.

Novotel Benoa offers 190 rooms. It opened in July last year with an average 74 percent occupancy rate, he said.

Amankila, a three-star hotel in Manggis village near Candi Dasa in East Bali, predicted an occupancy rate of 48 percent or 49 percent this month, said the hotel's front office manager Agus Supartika.

He said this was about the same as last year.

Amankila, operated by the Aman Resort of Hong Kong since 1992, has only 35 rooms.

Supartika said his hotel's high season was in August and December with up to 80 percent occupancy rates.

Aman runs two other hotels in Bali, the Amandani in Ubud and Amanusa in Nusa Dua.