Hotels fully booked in major cities ahead of long holiday

The Jakarta Post, Bandung/Yogyakarta/Medan

As the Idul Fitri celebration nears, hotels in several major cities across the country are fully booked with domestic tourists wishing to spend this year's extended public holiday in hotels.

Grand Hotel Preanger's Public Relations Assistant Manager Christine Effendy revealed on Saturday that the hotel's 189 rooms are fully booked from Nov. 26 through Nov. 29.

Gumilang Sari Hotel and Sheraton Hotel and Tower are also fully booked for the next few days.

"Beginning Nov. 22 until Nov. 29, all 152 rooms in the hotel are full," Sheraton Hotel and Tower's public relations manager Lucky Iswandi said.

Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Bandung chairman Hermawan said on Saturday that overall the occupancy rate of hotels in West Java reached 60 percent of the total 17,000 hotel rooms available.

"In Pangandaran, the occupancy rate of star-rated hotels and motels is 90 percent," he said.

Popular sites for domestic tourists in West Java include Lembang in North Bandung, Ciater, Subang, Puncak area, Cianjur, Cipanas, Garut and Pelabuhanratu, Sukabumi and Pangandaran Beach in Ciamis.

Jakarta hotels are experiencing a similar boom with Sari Pan Pacific Hotel and Grand Hyatt Hotel reporting a 100 percent occupancy rate.

The situation in Yogyakarta is similar.

Chairman of PHRI Yogyakarta Stef B. Indarto said on Saturday that all 9,500 hotel rooms in Yogyakarta were booked for this year's Idul Fitri holiday.

"There are no more rooms available a week either side of Idul Fitri," said Stef. He added that of the 38 star-rated hotels and 324 motels in Yogyakarta, all reported a 100 percent occupancy rate.

"Compared to last year's total occupancy of 1.2 million people, this year's total occupancy of 1.6 million is much better," he said.

The high occupancy rate was possible thanks to holiday packages, offering an overnight stay at affordable rates.

"But the occupancy rate will fall back to 50 percent a week after the Idul Fitri holiday," said Stef, adding that the occupancy rate would again increase in the second week of December, nearing Christmas.

Unlike in Jakarta, Bandung, and Yogyakarta, Medan, which usually has an occupancy rate of 80 percent, had an occupancy rate of only between 50 percent and 60 percent of the total available hotel rooms.

According to the secretary of the Indonesian Tourism Society Ronald A.M. Tambunan, the low occupancy rate happened every year during the month of Ramadhan and Idul Fitri holiday. But he was optimistic that the rate could go up to 80 percent after Idul Fitri.

"Most occupants of hotels in Medan are businesspeople who usually do business before the month of Ramadhan or after the Idul Fitri," said Ronald.

He said many businesspeople had made reservations at the Emerald Garden Hotel, which has 157 rooms, after Idul Fitri.

Although, overall the hotel industry experiences a boost in business during the Idul Fitri holiday, the tour and travel industry is not affected by it.

Manager of Puri Tur at Hotel Melia Purosani Amri Sitia Daniyuwono explained that tour and travel business before and after the Idul Fitri holiday were the same because most customers were foreign tourists.