Hotel groups start cooperate

Hotel groups start cooperate

JAKARTA (JP): PT Hotel Indonesia International (HII), a state-
owned company operating seven hotels, signed here yesterday an
agreement with the American Hotel and Motel Association (AHMA) to
cooperate in hotel industry training programs in Indonesia.

Under the agreement signed by HII's president, Widjaja
Sugarda, and AHMA's vice president for institutional programs,
Roy Kennington, HII will hold a five-year license to conduct a
number of courses and publish textbooks under the name of AHMA.

The license allows HII to use AHMA's brand names in conducting
training activities related to technical skills, methods,
products, programs and the association's other services.

"This cooperation is aimed at the improvement of human
resources in Indonesia's hotel industry," Widjaja said, adding
that there are some 900 people in the country already undertaking
AHMA's educational programs.

I Gede Ardika, the chief of the education and training
division of the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications
who attended the signing ceremony yesterday, said that Indonesia
needs to improve management skills in the hotel industry in order
to face global competition over the next 25 years.

He also said that such an agreement will hopefully bring the
quality of human resources in the country up to international
standards.

Kennington said that the relationship between HII and the
Michigan-based association began in 1972.

"Indonesia is the seventh party licensed by AHMA after those
from Singapore, Malaysia, Cyprus, Greece, Sydney and Melbourne in
Australia," he said, adding that AHMA was established in 1952.

Attitude

HII's vice president, A.A. Gede Rai, said that yesterday's
agreement is also expected to improve the attitudes of the
personnel working in HII hotels, many of which are aging
properties and conducive to unfavorable moods.

HII merged with Natour, another state-run hotel management
firm, in 1993. The combined-company, temporarily called Hotel
Indonesia International Corporation & Natour, has had financial
problems refurbishing the aging members among its 17 hotels.

Rai said that a team comprised of officials from the Ministry
of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Justice,
the Ministry of Finance, the Government Audit Agency, the
National Development Planning Board and the State Secretariat is
still discussing the future of the company and whether it will
become a merger with a new name or a holding company with a
number of subsidiaries.

Unless the team finalizes the discussion soon, the company is
unlikely to have supporting money to refurbish its properties in
the near future.

Both HII and Natour suffered total losses of Rp 16 billion in
1993, much more than the Rp 620 million they lost in the previous
year. Widjaja said recently that HII will likely continue to
suffer losses in the next two years, with projected losses of Rp
12.18 billion this year and Rp 2.87 billion in 1996. HII is
expected to gain a profit of Rp 6.9 billion in 1997 and Rp 17.13
billion in 1998.(icn)