Kodel sets up hotel school

JAKARTA (JP): Kodel Group, in cooperation with its business partners, will set up and operate a US$22.24 million integrated facility, consisting of a hotel and training and educational center, which is supported by the Singapore Hotel Association.

The center, called Wydiawisata, is owned by PT Purisoeria Wydiawisata, a newly-established firm which is 41 percent owned by Kodel Group, 51 percent by the foundation of Soeria Nata Atmadja and eight percent by PT Sarana Horeca Tiara.

Kodel Group is a business group which runs a number of hotels, including the Regent Jakarta and Ibis Tamarind, while Sarana Horeca is a domestic hotel and resort management firm.

Under an agreement signed yesterday, the center will be built on a three-and-a-half-hectare plot in Bandung, West Java, which is owned by the Soeria Nata Atmadja family.

A Purisoeria commissioner, Sani Sumakno, said yesterday that the construction of the center will start in October this year.

"Completion is expected next year as we hope to receive our first students in September 1996. The construction of the three star-hotel will be completed about six months later," he said.

The company's director, Ralph Marsoedhy, said that the training center will focus on the middle-upper class.

"The entrance fee will be $3,250. School and practical training fees will be $750 and $350 per annum respectively," he said.

He said that the training will focus on supervisory studies, which will be conducted in cooperation with the Singapore Hotel Association.

The association's chief executive officer, Pakir Singh, said that the association also holds such cooperations in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

According to Sani, the tourism industry is expanding significantly, marked by an average annual growth of 11 percent in the arrival of foreign visitors and 9.45 percent in the establishment of star-rated hotels.

"In human resources development, only 4,000 people can be absorbed per annum, while the demand for qualified personnel is about 30,000," he said.

Director of accommodation for the Directorate General of Tourism, Acep Hidayat, said that the government's hotel schools are currently very selective.

"In Bandung, the government hotel training school can take in only 750 students out of 5,000 applicants," he said.

Two leading hotels in Indonesia, the Sahid Jaya and Borobudur Inter-Continental, also conduct hotel training. (icn)