Pekanbaru to have four-star hotel

JAKARTA (JP): The Sahid hotel chain has opened a four-star hotel in Pekanbaru, the first of its kind in the Riau capital.

The hotel's general manager, Daulat Marbun, said in Pekanbaru yesterday that the Sahid Hotel had launched its soft operation filling up to 50 rooms early last month and expects its grand opening late this year.

The hotel has a ballroom big enough to hold 2,000 people, Antara news agency quoted Marbun as saying.

The new hotel is managed by PT Sahid International Hotel Management and Consultant, a subsidiary of the Sahid group controlled by businessman Sukamdani S. Gitosardjono.

"During the one-month soft operation the hotel's occupancy rate reached 60 percent," Marbun said.

The hotel was built with a Rp 50 billion investment.

Riau has 33 star-rated hotels with more than 3,000 rooms, but most of them are on the Batam and Bintan islands. The two islands are being developed as tourist resorts.

Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave promised the people in Ambon, Maluku, he would look for one or more investors to build a four-star hotel following the expansion project at the city's Pattimura airport.

During a visit to Ambon last week, Joop said Maluku would get more foreign tourists because the airport would accommodate international flights.

"Therefore Ambon will need an appropriate hotel," he said.

An Australian air carrier based in Darwin, Airnorth Regional, plans to fly Ambon-Darwin twice a week starting next month.

Head of the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications office in Ambon, Robertus Sarwono, said Minister Joop had ordered him to find a local businessperson or land owner to cooperate with the potential investor.

There are 12 star-rated hotel with 458 rooms in Maluku.

Last year, about 15,000 foreign tourists visited Maluku, up by 15 percent from 1995, Antara reported. (icn)