Thai, Singapore hotel chains tie up with Bakrie

JAKARTA (JP): General Hotels Management of Singapore and Soneva Pavilion of Thailand agreed here yesterday to operate hotels and tourism resorts now being developed by the Bakrie Group in Lampung.

The two companies signed the agreements with Bakrie Group's PT Krakatau Lampung Tourism Development Corporation, which is now developing the 350-hectare resort site in Kalianda, South Lampung.

Bangkok-based Soneva Pavilion Hotels and Resorts agreed to develop and manage two luxury resorts at the resort called the Kalianda adventure and nature resort.

"We will operate Kalianda's first resort, which is expected to be completed in December this year," Soneva's managing director Bernhard Bohnenberger said yesterday.

The site would be a nature theme resort site, he said.

Bohnenberger said Soneva also planned to invest 20 percent stake in the Kalianda hotel resort development, as was stated in its letter of intent submitted to PT Krakatau. He declined to disclose his company's investment in the project.

The company would start the construction of another luxury resort at the same site next year, he said.

"We also intend to find other investors to cooperate on the project with us," he said.

Soneva Pavilion, which operates hotels and resorts in Thailand, the Maldives and Vietnam, have several ongoing projects in Indonesia and other South East Asian countries.

The Singapore-based General Hotels Management (GHM) agreed to provide a technical assistance agreement for the design and construction of Serai-Lampung Hotel.

GHM's director in Indonesia Mark Edleson said the hotel's construction was scheduled to start early next year, and would be completed in mid 1999.

The hotel would have 120 rooms, two restaurants and a spa, he said.

GHM operates two types of hotels, namely the Serai and Chedi. Some of the resort hotels it operates are Chedi Ubud in Bali, Chedi Bandung (West Java) and Chedi-Phuket in Thailand.

National resort operator PT Kelola Sarana Wisata (Kelawi), also agreed yesterday to be part of the resorts management.

Kelawi's president Herman Hartomo said his company would manage several aspects of the resort such as the security, the restaurants, and discotheques.

PT Krakatau Lampung Tourism Corporation (KLTD) is 90 percent owned by the Bakrie Group, while the remaining 10 percent is owned by the provincial government of Lampung.

The joint venture was established to develop a 350 hectare site in Lampung into a world-class integrated resort, which would eventually contain 20 cluster hotels and three saleable developments such as golf areas and camping grounds.

KLTD's project director Chairul Hakim said yesterday his company expected to invest US$50 million in the first phase of the development.

Seventy percent of the funds came from bank loans, and the remaining 30 percent from the company's own funds, he said.

The number of foreign and domestic tourists in Lampung reached 397,580 last year, a 7.11 percent rise from the previous year. The government expects a 15 percent increase in tourists to the area this year. (das)