General Hotel plans expansion in Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): General Hotel Management, a Singapore-based hotel and resort management firm, plans to expand its business in Indonesia to a total of 10 hotels by 1997.

Company executive Mark A. Edleson said here yesterday that General Hotel Management currently runs two hotels and one executive club in Indonesia.

"General Hotel Management currently operates Chedi Hotel in Bandung, West Java, and Serai Hotel in Karangasem, Bali. The only club we currently manage is the Financial Club in Jakarta," he said.

Edleson added that General Hotel Management will manage two additional hotels next year -- Chedi Hotel in Ubud and Legian Hotel -- both in Bali.

General Hotel Management, established in 1992, also manages the Datai hotel in Langkawi, Malaysia, and the Chedi hotel in Phuket, Thailand. The company uses Chedi for four-star hotels and Serai for three-star hotels.

Edleson said the other hotels in Indonesia to be managed by General Hotel Management will be located in Sulawesi and other areas in the country's eastern region.

He said that the hotels in Indonesia to be managed by General Hotel Management are partly owned by PT NusaPacific Island Development, a joint venture company owned by Nusa Pacific International of Singapore and Indonesian businessmen. Nusa Pacific International itself is jointly owned by Singaporean and Indonesian parties.

"NusaPacific owns 53 percent and 40 percent respectively of the Chedi Bandung and Serai Hotel. The company also owns 80 percent of the Chedi Ubud," Edleson said.

He added that the planned five-star Legian Hotel is controlled by businessman Robby Djohan.

In addition to General Hotel Management, there are three other Singapore-based hotel chains which plan expansion in Indonesia: Pacific Hotels International, Aquila International Hotels and Resorts and Sedona Hotels International.

Sedona, affiliated with Straits Steamship Land, plans to operate a number of other hotels throughout the country within the next few years. It already runs two hotels in Indonesia, one in Padang, West Sumatra, and one on the island of Batam in Riau.

Aquila, whose majority stakes are owned by Indonesian businessmen, plans to manage more hotels in addition to its two hotels in Yogyakarta and Jakarta, while Pacific Hotels International, which runs the Purajaya Beach Resort in Batam, will also expand to Medan, North Sumatra. (icn)