Sahid group opens hotel in Mecca

Sahid group opens hotel in Mecca

JAKARTA (JP): The busy Sahid Group has opened its 21st
property, Sahid Suites Makkah, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to serve
haj pilgrims from Southeast Asia.

Sahid senior executive Darwin Siddyumar said here yesterday
the four-star hotel had 46 rooms.

"Since opening on Dec. 10, a group of 17 Indonesians have
booked to stay at the hotel," he told The Jakarta Post.

Darwin, who is also the hotel's general manager, said the
hotel should do well because more Indonesians were going to
Mecca.

He said the property, leased from a company in Mecca, was 150
meters from Al Haram Ash Sharif holy mosque.

He said the hotel's room rate would range between US$46 and
$86 in normal season and nine times higher, up to $400, in high
seasons (the end of Ramadhan and during the haj pilgrimage).

"By next March, Sahid will manage another star-rated hotel in
Madina," he said.

He said Sahid Group owned 50 percent of the Madina property.

The two hotels in Saudi Arabia are managed or will be managed
by PT Sahid International Hotel Management Consultant which
operates the five-star Hotel Sahid Jaya on Jl. Sudirman, Central
Jakarta.

Sahid Jaya deputy resident manager Sutikno said yesterday that
his hotel on Jl. Sudirman had won an Upakarti industrial award.

President Soeharto awarded 67 Upakarti awards last Monday to
executives, companies and local administrations for their
contribution to small business.

Sahid Jaya was one of 18 firms recognized this year for their
efforts to promote small business.

"About 85 percent of the decorations, including interior,
ornaments, stationery and meeting equipment at Sahid Jaya was
supplied by small-scale industries," Sutikno said.

He said Sahid Jaya was dealing with 55 small businesses and
300 small-scale suppliers.

He said the Sahid Hotel in Yogyakarta and Sahid Kusuma in
Surakarta in Central Java won Upakarti awards in 1992.

Sahid group has a portfolio of 21 star-rated properties in 11
provinces with more than 2,700 rooms.

Sahid chairman Sukamdani S. Gitosardjono opened the Sahid
Tourism Academy extension yesterday.

He said Indonesia, which targeted tourism as its main foreign
exchange earner by 2004, must train staff to face stiffer
competition. (icn)