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)