Stiff competition for hotels in Yogya

Stiff competition for hotels in Yogya

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Competition among star-rated hotels in this
province will get stiffer in the coming years as tourist arrivals
increase at a slower pace than the construction of new rooms.

An executive of Phoenix Heritage, Nina Arimurti, told The
Jakarta Post on Tuesday that several star-rated hotels in the
city have started a price war which may cause unhealthy
competition.

"There are hotels which offer discounts of up to 60 percent
of the published rates to corporate guests and 50 percent to
walk-in guest in the low season," she said.

There are 15 star-rated hotels in Yogyakarta, including
Aquila Prambanan, Melia Purosani (all five stars), Ambarrukmo,
Santika, Natour Garuda (four stars), Mutiara, Phoenix and Palace
(three stars), offering more than 2,300 rooms, in addition to
smaller hotels with more than 6,000 rooms.

A number of luxury hotels, which will be managed by
international chains, will be constructed soon, including
Sheraton, Radisson, Novotel, Hyatt and Holiday Inn.

Data from the Ministry of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications shows that Yogyakarta ranked fourth last year
among the most frequented tourist destinations in the country
(attracting 7.4 percent of foreign tourists), after Bali (31.9
percent), Jakarta (24.5 percent) and North Sumatra (12.2
percent). Indonesia recorded 3.4 million foreign visitors last
year, earning US$3.6 billion in foreign exchange.

The tourism industry in Yogyakarta is actually related
tightly with other destinations.

Entertainment

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave,
said recently that the city lacks night entertainment.

"That's very true," Nina said. "The length of stay in the
city is currently very low, only 1.6 days, as compared to the
national rate of 11 days."

The data shows that length of stays reached 2.1 in 1991, 1.7
in 1992 and 1.8 in 1993.

But the figures will likely be better within the next few
years as the government is currently developing a tourism
triangle linking the Borobudur temple in Magelang, to the north,
the Prambanan temple about 18 kilometers east and the Kraton
(palace) in the city, she said.

"The development of the Adi Sumarmo airport in Solo as one
of Indonesia's international airports and the planned
construction of a Solo-Yogyakarta toll road will likely encourage
visitors to come here," she said. Solo is about a one hour drive
from Yogyakarta.

Phoenix' general manager, Ito R. Sukarmadji, told the Post
that the government has closed Yogyakarta for investments in new
star-rated hotels since July to avoid a room oversupply.

Ito, who is also an executive of the Indonesia Hotel and
Restaurant Association, said the hotel industry in Yogyakarta is
just like the one in Bali two or three years ago, when the island
suffered from a room oversupply.

The star-rated hotels now under construction received
government approvals several years ago, he said.

"The Yogyakarta chapter of the association is currently
discussing establishing a local board for tourism promotion like
the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board in Jakarta," he said.(icn)