Hoteliers pledge to improve service

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) will consolidate its members in cooperation with local administrations to improve services to tourists.

The association's chairman, Ponco Sutowo, told reporters after the closing of its two-day annual conference here yesterday that both hoteliers and restaurant owners should cooperate in creating better services in hospitality arrangements.

"We think local administrations cannot do anything without businessmen, while businessmen should not insist that local administrations allow them to do whatever they want," he said.

He also said that IHRA will slightly reform its supervision system, also with an aim of service improvement.

"We will soon establish a supervision system based on the regionalization of tourism destinations set by the government. Such a system will hopefully be useful for control and guidance," Ponco said.

He said that such a system will also be good for the progress of the hotel and restaurant industries.

In the meantime, the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (Asita), which also closed its annual conference yesterday, confirmed its previous agreement on the limitation of airfare discounting, which is, according to it, the best solution to end fierce competition.

The agreement among tour and travel agencies, effective on March 1, limits competition among them by outlawing the practice of using their commissions to discount tickets above the discounts given by airlines. The agreement, called "Plan Save 5," also allows discounts of no greater than seven percent on tickets for international flights. In the past, discounts reached up to 40 percent.

Asita will also help improve the operation of its four chapters, comprising those from North Sumatra, Riau, North Sulawesi and Irian Jaya.(hdj/icn)