Hoteliers pledge to improve service

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)