Thai, Singapore hotel chains tie up with Bakrie

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)