Stop terrorism, please!

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

Stop terrorism. That is the call of most people, including hoteliers, as they are all fed up with terrorist attacks that bring pain and misery to many.

After the prolonged crisis that struck Indonesia in 1997, the country again received another blow with the Bali bombings in 2002. The tragedy that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, shocked the whole world and almost paralyzed the tourist industry.

Hotels in Bali, Jakarta as well as other areas of the country experienced a sharp drop in occupancy rates. Travelers canceled their trips, hotel rooms were empty and other facilities like restaurants, cafes and meeting rooms were also vacant.

Then SARS further damaged the industry, even though not as badly as was experienced by Singapore, Hong Kong and China.

And then, slowly but surely, the economic wheel in the country began to turn, thanks to the hard work of all. It may not business as usual, but the situation is much better. Tourists and business travelers from around the world have recently began to return to Jakarta, and hotels have started to enjoy robust business.

Things, however, do not always run as expected. Last year, the city was rocked by a bombing at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, which claimed 12 lives. And just last month 10 people were killed in a bomb blast in front of the Australian Embassy here. The effects of the two explosions in Jakarta were not as tremendous as the Bali bombing. For a moment, the hotel business was shocked, then the vigorous business quickly recovered.

The years from 2001 to 2003 indeed were a nightmare for hoteliers, but this year the hotel industry has bounced back.

The Jakarta Hilton International Hotel, JW Marriott Jakarta, Gran Melia, Gran Mahakam, Sari Pan Pacific, Shangri-La Jakarta, Hotel Borobudur Jakarta and other star-rated hotels in the capital are currently enjoying positive developments, thanks to the improving political and economic situation in the country. And there is hope for a better future like what they experienced before 1997, especially if the issue of security is addressed properly.

"Stop terrorism and that will increase tourism, as simple as that," the general manager of the Hotel Sari Pan Pacific, Christo Diamandopoulos, said.

Emeraldo Parengkuan, director of public relations and communications at the Jakarta Hilton International Hotel, gave a similar comment, recalling the depressing impact of bomb attacks that resulted in the issuance of travel bans from several countries.

"After the Bali bombings, it took two years for the industry to recover and the number of travelers had dropped by more than 50 percent. As for the bombings in Jakarta, it made the occupancy rate decrease by 5 percent for about two weeks," he said, adding that the hotel was doing quite well this year.

Mellanie Solagratia from the JW Marriott added that the impact of the bomb attacks in Jakarta did not last long because people, both locals and foreigners, had become more mature in facing such incidents.

Unlike many hotels in Bali, which target tourists, the guests of five-star hotels in Jakarta are mainly business travelers, both locals and foreigners. The main target of the Sari Pan Pacific, Hotel Borobudur and Gran Mahakam, for example, is the domestic market.

"Our primary market is business travelers mostly from the local/domestic market, followed by the Asian market," Sylvain Julien, general manager of the Hotel Gran Mahakam, said.

He said the hotel, which has enjoyed an above 73 percent occupancy rate each month from June until September this year, was focusing on the domestic market because it still had more potential compared to the foreign market, especially the European market.

But many other business hotels have more foreign guests, mostly executives of multinational companies from other Asian countries. And the hoteliers believe that they can still maintain the target considering the improving conditions in the country.

"Our foreign guests keep coming because Gran Melia Jakarta is a five-star hotel targeting business travelers from corporate companies who are also loyal guests. For many years, they have stayed at our hotel during their visits to Jakarta," said Hana Hoed, the hotel's public relations manager, adding that many of the guests were foreigners from Southeast Asian countries.

Ratna Sjamsiar Idris, director of communications of Shangri-La Jakarta, also expressed optimism that foreigners, as well as Indonesians, would stay in the hotel, which has an occupancy rate of between 40 percent and 60 percent.

"With our reputation as a member of the group of great hotels with a strong Asian culture, Shangri-La Hotels & Resort is the choice for foreign guests who travel to Indonesia. And there has even been a significant increase in the number of expatriate guests who have long lived in Asia and know Asia," she said.

JW Marriott, too, does not have any plans to change its target because it is a business hotel with guests from various countries who come to Jakarta to have business meetings with their local partners. Local guests, who comprise about 20 percent, usually spend the night on the weekend and use the hotel's facilities for non-business purposes like weddings, dining or relaxing.

The encouraging developments in the hotel industry and the tight competition among the hotels has enhanced their spirit to work even harder. With professional staffs, they have improved their service and have come up with various strategies to attract guests: offering interesting room rates and packages, food promotions and high-tech facilities, maintaining good relations with other parties, improving the brand image and implementing tight security measures.

As hotels in general are experiencing significant growth this year, it seems the hotel industry is now returning to the good times before the crisis hit in late 1997.

With hard work, coupled with the promises of the new government to make every effort to improve the economy, hoteliers have every reason to hope for a bright future.