Hotel profits from environmental concern

By R. Fadjri

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The environmental approach is taking on global business dimensions due to political and business pressures. It is even more obvious in the area of tourism, where the environmental approach has been implemented to win stiff competition in the hotel business.

One of the hotels using the environmental approach is the Puri Asri Hotel. Located on the outskirts of Magelang, Central Java, this three-star hotel says the approach attracts guests and does not harm the surroundings.

It is located on the bank of a river set in the hills. It is a hotel resort plus cottages, which take up half of the five hectares of land on which the complex was built. The remaining land has been left in its natural form, a perfect natural preserve of thick tree foliage and green grass fields.

The hotel's architecture is a typical mountain building sporting a low roof with a wide front terrace, adding to the impression of a spacious family building. All of the buildings were built with a horizontal slant, which provides hotel guests with a liberal view of the Progo River, rice fields, forests, and Mount Sumbing.

Rice fields can be found not only in the Gemulung and Ngiwon villages across the river, but also in the hotel complex. There is no fence separating the rice fields from the hotel, giving the guests a free view of local farmers working the fields. They can also go fishing in the hotel's fish pond.

The Puri Asri Hotel was first designed to accommodate tourists visiting Taman Kyai Langgeng, a nearby recreational park. The park was built in 1987, the hotel was opened the following year. Over the years, however, the hotel management felt it would be impossible to meet targets if they had to depend solely on park visitors.

The hotel was renovated and now has 75 rooms. It is unlike any other in town. The idea was not to build a hotel that only provides accommodation, but one that is a tourist attraction in itself.

"We designed the hotel to be more than a place to stay. We want the guests to feel at home here," said Sudarmono, the hotel's general manager who came up with the "back to nature" concept.

He seems to have made the right decision. Magelang was practically unknown then as a tourist destination, even if it is less than 10 kilometers away from the world famous Borobudur temple.

Domestic and foreign tourists are more familiar with Yogyakarta, its tourist sites and international standard hotels.

A regency town and home to the AKABRI military academy, Magelang is cool, pastoral and lies far from the hustle and bustle of big cities.

"It would be impossible to compete with hotels in Yogyakarta, but at least we offer something different," said Sudarmono.

But trouble is looming. An international hotel is being built near the temple and land demands continue to grow in accordance with the growing population. The first threat is less great than the second as new residential areas have to be built on the outskirts of town. A developer once tried to acquire land facing the Puri Asri Hotel for a residential site. It was fortunate that the local government did not approve the plan, and even issued a rule forbidding construction on that particular piece of land.

"If the villages and rice fields are to be turned into new housing estates, that will be the end of our hotel's existence," added Sudarmono.

The hotel's management keeps the surrounding rice fields intact through an agreement with field owners that can be renewed every 10 years. The management is to pay a contract fee in lieu of payment to rice field owners, who can keep their land rights and crops. In return, the hotel's natural view goes undisturbed.

"The deal works both ways," said Sudarmono. The relationship with the surrounding population is further strengthened by the number of people employed in the hotel. Eighty-five percent of the hotel's 150 employees are from here and around.

"We want local people to benefit from the presence of the hotel," Sudarmono stressed.

The management has successfully established a hotel in harmony with nature. "Guests choose this hotel because of its natural ambience," boasted Dyah Cendrawati from the hotel's marketing department.

In the beginning, the hotel hoped to attract foreign tourists. But development over the years nudged it more towards domestic tourists, which presently account for about 60 percent of it visitors, most of whom come from Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Semarang on the weekends and holidays.

To support its back to nature motto, the hotel has a river rafting program that takes the adventurous down the Progo River in front of the hotel. The Borobudur River Rafting program is overseen by a professional from PT Sendika Alamtirtatama, a company located in Jakarta that offers nature-oriented activities. However, tourists are urged to be careful.

Earlier this month, a 55-year-old woman drowned in the river after she got trapped in a strong current while rafting. Mother nature can be lovely, but she can also be dangerous.