Indonesia's Hotels Quiet During Ramadan as Daily-Wage Workers Bear the Brunt

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Hotel operators are preparing several strategies during Ramadan to keep hotel operations running normally. Maulana Yusran, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), said many hotels have already implemented steps during Ramadan, ranging from sharing iftar packages and room-rate promotions to operational efficiency. ‘Typically, hotels have Ramadan strategies, one of which is selling shared iftar packages,’ Maulana said when contacted by CNBC Indonesia on Thursday (5 March 2026). However, Maulana added that such iftar packages are currently less promising due to budget efficiency measures implemented by the government. ‘But again, before these efficiency measures, the target market for such events was still the government. Once efficiency was introduced, the programme declined, indeed, drastically,’ he continued. The same applies to corporate clients, as budgetary efficiency means orders for iftar packages from the corporate side also fall. ‘If we target corporations as well, they, too, would be applying the same efficiencies as the government. So the impact makes it difficult to find new market strategies for Ramadan,’ he said. As a result, because these strategies have not been effective at boosting hotel occupancy during Ramadan, hotel operators have been forced to reduce staff temporarily, with daily-wage workers among those placed on temporary layoff. ‘We have reduced costs significantly, since last year, to help them survive. So especially daily-wage workers are not being absorbed any longer,’ he said. Therefore, he hopes that during Eid the occupancy will rise and the laid-off workers can return to work. ‘Of course, what happens during Eid remains to be seen, but we remain optimistic about a jump in activity. There, strategies may be used to re-absorb more daily workers,’ he said. Maulana also predicts occupancy could increase on the second day after Eid. ‘He hopes occupancy will rise after Eid, particularly two days after the holiday, when people usually travel,’ he explained.