Windfall unlikely for luxury hotels

Windfall unlikely for luxury hotels

JAKARTA (JP): Despite fears of unrest during the four-day
Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly which
starts here on Tuesday, most five-star hotels in the city have
not recorded a surge in bookings by anxious residents seeking
safe havens in which to weather the coming political storm.

Hoteliers said on Monday that no extraordinary increase in
bookings had been recorded in the run-up to the session.

However, the Hilton and Mulia hotels in Central Jakarta are
fully booked by MPR members, who are staying there for the
duration of the session.

Hoteliers said that occupancy rates in the city's five-star
hotels fell to between 20 percent and 40 percent in January of
this year in response to a worsening in the monetary crisis that
first hit the country in July, 1997.

Occupancy rates jumped substantially when Jakarta was struck
by bloody riots in May, with several hotels registering 100
percent occupancy. Many of the additional guests were Chinese-
Indonesians fleeing the unrest in which they were the prime
targets.

"People were afraid to stay in their own homes then, but now
it seems that there is no sense of crisis," Novi Wallad, the
promotions manager of the 267-room Le Meridien Hotel on Jl. Jend.
Sudirman, said.

"We are expecting an occupancy rate of between 25 percent and
30 percent this week," she said, adding that guests in her hotel
were mainly European, with an especially large French contingent.

Erwin Ahmad, an assistant manager of the 438-room Mandarin
Oriental Hotel on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, said his hotel had an
occupancy rate of 23 percent on Sunday, rising slightly to 31
percent on Monday.

"People staying at our hotel are the usual mix of Europeans,
Americans and Asians," Erwin said.

Erwin said that his hotel was fully booked during the riots on
May. 14 and May. 15, with 60 percent of guests consisting of
Chinese-Indonesians and at least 80 rooms occupied by journalists
covering the unfolding events.

"This time, at least five foreign journalists are staying with
us at a negotiated rate of US$95," he said, adding that they were
from BBC radio and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Nuni Sutiyoko from the Regent Hotel's publicity department
said that her hotel, which is located on Jl. Rasuna Said in South
Jakarta, is prepared for an extraordinary increase in the
occupancy rate.

She mentioned that groups from at least three multinational
companies had made reservations for the week in anticipation of
possible chaos here, but refused to disclose any further details
about the firms.

"Sorry. That is strictly confidential. I can only say that
they have made reservations in response to the possibility of
rioting in the city," Nuni said.

"People coming in will also see a five-meter fence has been
erected around the hotel garden for security reasons."

She revealed that the hotel's management has brought an extra
two-weeks worth of food and toiletry stocks.

"We are just playing safe. In May, not only did we need the
extra stocks, other hotels in the vicinity informed us that they
had run out of toothpastes, for instance," Nuni said.

Meanwhile, Emilia, a reservations operator at a major travel
agency, said there was still "lots of openings" for Denpasar in
Bali, a destination that has so far proved to be an oasis of
stability in an otherwise chaotic and unpredictable country.

Emilia said that during the May riots, many Chinese-
Indonesians had also sought refuge in Singapore and the Malaysian
capital of Kuala Lumpur.

"There are still openings for both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
A rush in bookings for international and domestic flights has
only been recorded around Nov. 17, the day which marks the
Ascension of Prophet Muhammad," she said. (ylt)