RI, S'pore firms to build a resort hotel in Manado

RI, S'pore firms to build a resort hotel in Manado

JAKARTA (JP): In relation to the agreement on tourism affairs
signed by Indonesia and Singapore last month, three major firms
from the two countries signed an accord yesterday to develop a
resort hotel in Manado, North Sulawesi.

The three parties, Salim Group of Indonesia, Straits Steamship
Land (SSL) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) of Singapore, agreed to
establish PT Pantai Indah Tateli, the company which will build
the four-star hotel to be called Sedona Hotel Manado.

The US$40 million hotel will be situated at Tateli, some 12
kilometers from Manado and a half-hour drive from the Sam
Ratulangi Airport, SIA's managing director, Cheong Choong Kong,
told reporters after signing the agreement with Salim Group's
chief executive officer/president, Anthony Salim, and SSL's
deputy chairman, Lim Chee Onn.

"The new company is 50 percent owned by SSL, 30 percent by
Salim Group and 20 percent by SIA," he said, adding that the 250-
room hotel will be in operation in 1997.

The agreement has been ready since last year, when President
Soeharto and Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong reached an
accord in Yogyakarta in September 1994 to develop cooperation in
the tourism industry. Last month, the two countries also agreed
to establish a joint marketing group, consisting of businessmen
and government officials, to identify tourism trends, potential
markets for tourist promotion and product development.

According to Cheong, SIA's investment in the hotel project is
yet another demonstration of the airlines' commitment to
developing Indonesia's tourist industry.

SSL, having injected hundreds of millions of dollars into
Indonesia, is a management and investment company under the
Keppel Group. Jointly with two other Indonesian partners, SSL and
SIA hold ownership in Melia Purosani, a five-star hotel in
Yogyakarta.

Other projects

SSL is also developing several projects in Indonesia,
including a 435-hectare tourist site, in which it controls a 51
percent stake while the other 49 percent belongs to Salim Group.
Other SSL projects are, among others, a 150-hectare tourist
resort at Tanah Lot in Bali (25.5 percent owned by SSL, 50
percent by Purimas Gemala and 24.5 percent by Temasek Holdings),
Pasadena Garden, a residential project in Jakarta, and a 62-
hectare marina resort on Batam island, about 20 kilometers south
of Singapore.

Meanwhile, Lim said that the planned Manado hotel will be
managed by Sedona Hotels International, which is affiliated with
SSL.

Sedona's executive director, George A. Huels, told The Jakarta
Post that in addition to the Manado property project, five hotels
will be managed by his company: the Sedona Bintan Lagoon in
Bintan, Riau, the Sedona Legian Beach in Bali, the Sedona Bumi
Minang in Padang, West Sumatra, and the Nongsa Point Marina in
Batam.

Sedona, established last year, will also manage a number of
other hotels in Sydney (Australia), Yangon and Mandalay
(Myanmar), Kunming (China) and Hanoi (Vietnam).

"We are also considering looking for hotel sites in
Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, Medan in North Sumatra, Lombok in
West Nusa Tenggara and Semarang in Central Java," Huels said.

Manado has of late shown significant growth in the number of
foreign tourists arriving for its snorkeling sites, marine
reserves and volcanoes.

There are currently three four-star hotels operating in the
city, the Manado Beach Hotel, Makassar Golden Hotel and Marannu
City Hotel. A number of international hotel chains, such as
Sheraton, Century and Accor, will also manage hotels in the city
in the next few years. (icn)