Big hotels pessimistic about occupancy rates on New Year's

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Expensive hotels in Bali might receive fewer guests at the turn of the new millennium due to a decline in foreign tourist arrivals on the resort island.

Andisuari Nehen, public relations manager of the five star diamond-rated Grand Hyatt hotel in Nusa Dua, said the occupancy rate was expected to remain normal despite the special event.

He said foreign arrivals in December this year was apparently 30 percent less than that of the same period last year.

"Our hotel was overbooked (in December) last year. We had to put guests on waiting lists or reject visitors without prior bookings. Now it is the other way around," he said.

The Grand Hyatt has an occupancy rate of 70 percent at present.

Major hotels on the resort island initially expected to be fully booked over the New Year's holiday on an assumption that many tourists would celebrate the turn of the new millennium on the island. But most hotel executives are now pessimistic about occupancy rates given the fact that many foreign tourists have canceled their trips at fears of Y2K problems on their flights.

Another top-end hotel in Nusa Dua, the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, also expects fewer guests during the year-end holiday.

One of the hotel's public relations staffers, Nuriyanti, said the occupancy rate of the 381-room hotel remained low at about 45 percent at present.

According to unconfirmed data, there are currently around 19,671 foreigners visiting the province, while Bali has 31,372 rooms at 1,022 hotels.

Kartika Plaza Beach Hotel, a star-rated hotel in Kuta, however, has received a larger number of guests, pushing up its occupancy rate to 85 percent.

"Our hotel is almost fully booked. Some rooms are being reserved to anticipate possible walk-in guests," hotel assistant manager Budiarti said.

She said contributed the surge in the occupancy rate to a sharp increase in local visitors.

The Four Seasons Resort in Jimbaran also has more local guests than usual, resulting in an occupancy rate of about 95 percent, according to public relations officer Luh Resiki.

Non-rated hotels and even many households are also enjoying good business as lots of local visitors to Bali have opted to stay at these less luxurious properties in a bid to save money.

Some local people in Kesiman district are offering rooms or whole houses to travelers, most of whom are domestic tourists.

According to Ketut, who was letting rooms in his house to mostly local travelers, all rooms or houses for rent in the area were fully occupied.

He said a room was let for between Rp 40,000 (US$5.70) and Rp 50,000 per night and houses were rented out at an average of Rp 120,000 nightly.

The office for interisland sea transportation said there was a surge in the number of people and vehicles using ferry services through Ketapang Port in East Java to Gilimanuk Port in Bali in the past days.

Head of the office, Karngun Sedono, said over 10,000 passengers and 2,000 cars from Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan had arrived at Gilimanuk Port on Dec. 29 alone.

"The figures are double the regular number of people or vehicles on board the ferries," he said. (zen/cst)