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)