Golden Truly expands into hotel business

Golden Truly expands into hotel business

JAKARTA (JP): Golden Truly, a major domestic retail chain, will expand into hotel operations later next year to benefit from the growing number of foreign tourists visiting the capital.

"We're confident that our hotel business will grow," the president of Golden Truly Group, H.E. Dachlan, said at the "topping out" ceremony of the 15-story hotel here yesterday.

The Golden hotel, as it will be called when it opens next year, is located near the Jakarta International Trade Center in the Kemayoran district, Central Jakarta. It will have 350 rooms and a ballroom with a capacity of 1,200 people.

"Even though the hotel is designed to be a three-star property, its facilities and amenities will be equal to those of a four-star hotel," Dachlan said.

He said that the hotel business is promising due to the fact that the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia has been increasing steadily and because the government is wooing more foreign visitors.

As of September this year, 2.6 million foreign tourists had visited Indonesia for the year, spending an estimated US$3.1 billion.

Next year the number is expected to reach five million, with total spending expected to reach $6.9 billion.

The government has targeted tourism to become a major earner of foreign exchange by 2005. (13)