Indonesia's tourism industry lacks promotion, not security

Indonesia's tourism and hospitality industry has been trying to get back on its feet after several consecutive blows, starting with the 2002 Bali bombing incident, followed by SARS, the Marriott bombing and enactment of the visa-on-arrival policy. However difficult, some players have absolute confidence that the industry has rebounded and the climate has begun to improve. Starwood Hotels and Resorts, an international chain with brands such as Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, the Luxury Collection and W Hotels, has 10 properties in Indonesia, with 3,500 Indonesian and 16 expatriate employees. Visiting Starwood vice president of sales and marketing for the Asia Pacific region Oliver Bonke talked last week with The Jakarta Post's Leony Aurora in an interview regarding the prospects for tourism and the hospitality industry in the country. The following is an excerpt of the interview:

Question: How did last year's events affect your hotels in Indonesia?

Answer: Of course it had a major impact throughout this region and Indonesia. Nevertheless, I think the hotel business is becoming rather experienced dealing with crises as people have had to become accustomed to them around the world.

Of course we had a declining occupancy. It was a down year for Indonesia, but it has come back very, very strongly. We see strong growth out of Europe, out of Hong Kong and other areas coming back into Indonesia.

Last year Starwood hotels in Indonesia had an average occupancy rate of 52 percent. This is expected to increase to 62 percent this year, seeing that Indonesia is a region whose occupancy rate stabilizes at 65 percent to 70 percent because there's a lot of seasonality.

How do you see the prospects for this year, with the upcoming general election?

The election, if anything, could have a positive or negative effect on domestic travel. Indonesia is a market that has considerable domestic travel, but unless there is unrest involved with the election I don't expect it to affect international travel.

What are your strategies to reach the 62 percent occupancy rate in the existing hotels this year?

We've got promotions in place with our brands -- promoting spas, golf and this type of thing. Second, with the very large sales organization that we have in Indonesia, we have the ability to be bullish on revenue growth with our major accounts -- wholesalers that focus on domestic travel and inbound travel.

In your opinion, what is the competitive edge that Indonesia has over other Asian countries?

Indonesia has such great assets -- the islands, the beaches, the weather and its people. The desire for great service is apparent everywhere you go and the desire to look after tourists is incredibly strong.

For the most part, Asia is a very friendly destination, but I feel that this is especially true in Indonesia.

What is the weakness of Indonesia in tourism?

I think Indonesia could do a better job in promoting to the world what a great destination it is. When you compare it to Thailand and other tourism destinations, Indonesia needs to give itself a push and create a stronger tourism marketing organization and have a look at taking the assets that it has.

Indonesia has a good infrastructure, it certainly has great service, tourism destinations, cities, shopping -- wonderful reasons for people to come.

So what do you think is lacking?

It lacks promotion abroad. When you look at a site like Bali, it lacks nothing in terms of infrastructure and the desire for people to go there, but it may lose its competitive edge in terms of promotion as a tourism destination from a country standpoint.

We'll do our share to promote our destinations and our hotels, but we cannot make up for the promotion of a tourism organization. So my appeal to the government of Indonesia is to consolidate its efforts and information and promote its assets more effectively to the world.

What is the most effective way to do that?

Tourism in a country like Indonesia should have a well- positioned format within the government. It should also be well- funded, well-organized and well-promoted. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but I think from a competitive standpoint there's room for improvement.

I know that there is a tourism function within the government, but my feeling is that there is an opportunity for Indonesia to give that a push.

So the lack of security is actually not the problem?

Do you think that there's a lack of security? I tell you what: I haven't arrived at any hotel within the last 48 hours where the security hasn't been better than at probably any other hotel I've ever visited all my life. I don't sense any lack of security anywhere. As I mentioned earlier, the world has changed, and whether you're in New York or Jakarta, it's the same.

What do you think about the visa on arrival that the government recently imposed?

I think 30 days is OK. I personally didn't feel it to be problem. Maybe there's an opportunity to take that visa money and put it into tourism promotion.

I don't know if the money will be used well to promote tourist destinations.

It's being used to counter terrorism....

Money well invested. Let's be careful about not burdening our tourists with bureaucracy, let's be sure that we don't put undue costs on them. But if you're going to tell a tourist, "We're looking to improve the security and infrastructure of our country", and that money is genuinely channeled that way, I don't think you'll find anyone complaining.