Hyatt Int'l, ALatieF sign hotel agreement

Hyatt Int'l, ALatieF sign hotel agreement

JAKARTA (JP): ALatieF Corporation, a private firm founded by
Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief, signed here yesterday an
agreement with the U.S.-based Hyatt International on the
management of a star-rated hotel in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.

ALatieF's president, Usman Ja'far, said that construction of
the US$80-million hotel, to be called Hyatt Regency, will start
in the middle of 1996 and be completed in the following 24
months.

The 250-room hotel will be owned by PT Sulawesi
Wisatanusakarya, an ALatieF subsidiary.

ALatief, which controls some 20 subsidiaries, currently has
two hotels -- the three-star Ambhara Hotel in Jakarta and the
four-star Timika Sheraton in Irian Jaya.

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave, who
witnessed the signing, said that hotel construction should use
raw materials produced in the South Sulawesi province and the
management was told to hire local employees.

Ujungpandang currently has six star-rated hotels, one of which
is operated by Radisson, with a combined total of some 1,000
hotel rooms.

Governor of South Sulawesi Zainal B. Palaguna, who also
witnessed the signing, said that his province recorded a steady
increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals, with a growth
rate of about 15 percent per year.

The province saw some 200,000 foreign tourist arrivals in
1995. Some 4.3 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia last
year.

"There are currently two foreign air carriers serving
Ujungpandang, Malaysian Airlines and SilkAir from Singapore. I
hope the government will license more international airlines to
serve Ujungpandang en route to Bali, for instance," he said.

Meanwhile, Hyatt president Bernd Chorengel, who also attended
yesterday's ceremony, said that his company planned to set up a
subsidiary in Indonesia which will manage Hyatt hotels in the
country.

"We will decide on the local company later this year. We don't
know yet whether the planned subsidiary will include local
partners or not," he said.

Southern Pacific of Australia and Choice of the United States
have already set up Indonesia-based companies to manage their
hotels in the country.

Joop said yesterday that Accor, Sheraton and Hilton have also
formed subsidiaries in Indonesia.

The New York-based Hyatt is currently managing five hotels in
Indonesia, including the Hyatt Regency in Surabaya, East Java;
Grand Hyatt and Aryaduta in Jakarta; as well as Grand Hyatt and
Bali Hyatt in Bali.

Hyatt's regional director for Indonesia, Peter Stettler, said
that in addition to the planned hotel in Ujungpandang, his
company would also operate other hotels in Yogyakarta, Bandung of
West Java and Medan of North Sumatra within the next two years.
(icn)