'Many firms prefer to hold meetings outside Jakarta'
'Many firms prefer to hold meetings outside Jakarta'
BOGOR, West Java (JP): The uncertainty over security and the
political situation in Jakarta has provided opportunities for
hotels and resorts outside the capital.
Novotel Bogor's General Manager Antoin Sirot said many
companies and institutions preferred to hold their meetings and
seminars outside the capital to ensure that their activities
would not be disturbed by antigovernment protests, which often
turned violent.
Seminars or discussions related to the government's economic
reform program such as the change in banking law and the anti-
monopoly bill were mostly held in hotels near Jakarta, he said on
Sunday.
"Such activities need a fresh, natural situation. And
considering the uncertain situation in Jakarta, many companies
and government institutions prefer to hold their activities here
to escape from the sweltering heat and high tension of Jakarta
but not far away from the capital. Bogor is cool and green and
only 45 minutes away from Jakarta by toll road."
Sirot said his hotel, in the past several months, also
received many long-staying guests -- most of them are foreign
technicians or executives of multinational companies whose plants
are in Bogor or nearby towns in the Greater Jakarta area -- who
were afraid to stay in Jakarta.
"They prefer to stay here because they are worried about their
security in Jakarta. This is the market we have to capture," he
said.
The situation in Jakarta has been very tense since the massive
riots in Jakarta in May this year which killed hundreds of people
and led to the resignation of former president Soeharto after 32
years in power.
It has been exacerbated by the clash that occurred between
antigovernment student protesters and security personnel at the
Semanggi cloverleaf on Nov. 13, which claimed at least 15 lives
and a religion-related riot in Central and West Jakarta which
claimed 14 lives and left 22 churches burned and destroyed.
For many people the on again, off again street demonstrations
conducted by students and other parties, and the watching heavily
armed security personnel in almost every part of the city have
made living in Jakarta inconvenient, he said.
Sirot said that the average occupancy rate of Novotel Bogor
could be considered high amid the current economic crisis.
"Our average monthly occupancy rate this year is over 50
percent. Last month, our occupancy rate was over 55 percent. It
sometimes reaches 100 percent during weekends," he said.
He was optimistic the business prospects would be better next
year although he admitted that it was still hard to predict. "But
I set a target for Novotel Bogor's average monthly occupancy rate
of at least 55 percent next year," he added.
Located in Bogor, West Java, only 60 kilometers south of
Jakarta, four-star Novotel Bogor is set amid a 18-hole golf
course. The 180-room resort hotel is complete with 6 fully
equipped meeting rooms which accommodate up to 800 people.
The hotel, owned by the Aspac Group and managed by
international hotel chain Accor, was opened in June 1997.
Accor, partly owned by Paris-based hotel management giant
Accor SA, operates hotels under several brand names, including
Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis. It currently runs 1 Sofitel,
12 Novotels, eight properties under the Ibis name and five others
under Mercure in Indonesia.
The company currently operates 26 star-rated hotels with 4,595
rooms and five apartments with 476 units throughout Indonesia.
Accor held on Saturday the grand final of its Miss Novotel
tourism ambassador contest 1998 at Novotel Bogor.
Aretha Aprila, 19 year-old student from Yogyakarta who was
named as the winner, will be actively involved in promoting
Indonesia in France through several programs organized by Accor
and the Let's Go Indonesia campaign. (gis)