More int'l hotel chains to operate in Indonesia

More int'l hotel chains to operate in Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): A number of international hotel management firms
will soon operate medium-scale and luxury hotels here to provide
more accommodation alternatives.

Southern Pacific of Australia will begin its soft operation of
the Ancol Travelodge hotel in the Ancol Dreamland of North
Jakarta in early October, while Equatorial International of
Singapore will open the Grand Metro Equatorial hotel in Central
Jakarta in September.

The 309-room four-star Ancol Travelodge, owned by PT Sarana
Ria, will officially open in December.

Southern Pacific's area general manager for Indonesia, Edwin
Bucher, told The Jakarta Post here yesterday that his company
will manage about five more hotels in Indonesia.

"We are still negotiating for their management contracts,"
Bucher said, adding that the hotels are to be located in Manado
of North Sulawesi, Surabaya and Batu of East Java, in
Ujungpandang of South Sulawesi and in West Jakarta.

Numerous international hotel management chains have entered
the hotel industry in Indonesia by signing contracts with
domestic investors to operate new star-rated hotels.

At least 30 hotel management chains are currently operating in
the country, including Melia-Sol of Spain, Le Meridien of France,
Swiss Belhotel, the Hong Kong-based Oriental, the Japan-based
Dai-ichi, Imperial and Nikko and Thailand's Dusit Hotels and
Resorts.

Dusit, which operates a 208-room Dusit Inn hotel owned by PT
Sinarwisata Permai in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, will also open
another hotel, owned by Sinarwisata, a subsidiary of the Sinar
Mas Group, in Mangga Dua, Central Jakarta, by the end of next
year.

According to a deputy director of the group, Gunawan
Tenggarahardja, Sinar Mas also plans to open hotels in Lombok of
West Nusa Tenggara, Bali and Anyer of West Java.

The American-based hotel chain, Park Inn International, will
manage the Park Inn hotel on Jl. Kramat Raya, Central Jakarta.
The three-star hotel, owned by PT Guntur Madu Tama, will be the
first Park Inn hotel in Indonesia.

The other international hotel chains planning to expand their
business in Indonesia include Conrad, Marriott, Omni, Holiday Inn
and Sheraton of the United States and the Australian-based
Radisson, whose 37.5-percent stake has just been acquired by
Indonesia's Ongko Group. (icn)