Batam hotel industry has bright future

JAKARTA (JP): Prospects of the hotel industry in Batam have become brighter, now that the construction of a number of new facilities have been completed.

"We are confident that investments in the hotel industry have a bright future," said President of the Royale Eastern Business Hotel, Tommy Lim, as quoted by Antara.

Among the infrastructure facilities which are expected to give a boost to Batam's hotel industry are the completion of Batam's Hang Nadim airport, the expansion of the bonded zone between Batam and Galang Baru Island, the development of Bintan Island and the future liquefied natural gas mega-project on Natuna Island.

Lim was optimistic that by 1997, Batam's rapid development would lead to an investment boom in the hotel industry.

Secretary of the regional office of the Association of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants, Adi Koesnadi, acknowledged that as a growing region, Batam, near Singapore, was still open to more investments in the hotel business.

"Investments in the industry are still needed to anticipate Batam's development, which will have a direct impact on and access to the nation's economy," he said.

Although Koesnadi acknowledged that the hotel industry had a long-term payback period, it could be more profitable if it was managed by professionals and high-quality human resources.

Batam, which was designed as an industrial, trade, seaport and touristic center, currently has 20 star-rated hotels with a total of 2,479 rooms and five non-star-rated hotels with 273 rooms.

The average hotel room occupancy on the island is about 55 percent, but several hotels have an occupancy rate of up to 80 percent.

Husni Ilyas, head of the Batam Authority's tourism office, said that investments in Batam's hotel business have not yet reached a point of saturation.

"So far, not a single hotel in Batam has closed down due to losses. The only thing that has happened is a takeover in the hotel management," he said.

Husni added, however, that the average tourist length of stay on the island reached only 2.4 days, due to a lack of tourist attractions.

Last year, Batam received almost 900,000 foreign tourists, a record so far, most of whom came from Singapore.

"Tourism industrialists have no other choice but to increase the number and the variety of tourist attractions to woo domestic and foreign travelers," Husni said. (pwn)