BTDC prepares thousands of meeting rooms, bedrooms ahead of APEC

Nusa Dua resort operator, PT Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC), guaranteed that the thousands of available bedrooms and meeting rooms in the resort compound would be sufficient to accommodate the guests of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2013.

In 2013, PT BTDC targets having as many as 20 hotels, a museum, the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC), and a golf course in the 300-hectare Nusa Dua resort area.

A total of 3,643 rooms, comprising 3,512 hotel rooms and 131 villas, are available in the compound.

PT BTDC public relations officer Purnama Damayanti said that by 2013, the operator targeted making available around 1,080 new rooms, comprising of 929 hotel rooms and 151 villas, while after 2013, 713 more rooms will be established.

“The new rooms will be made available by hotels already established in the compound, as well as new hotels that include the Shangri-La, JW Marriot, the Centara Grand, Mercure and the Royal Kamuela,” said Damayanti.

Around 164 meeting rooms with various capacities, from 25 people to thousands, for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition) are also available.

“In total these meeting rooms can accommodate up to 45,875 people,” said Damayanti.

The most comprehensive meeting room facilities at hotels in Nusa Dua are the Grand Hyatt (29), The Westin Resort (28) and BNDCC (41). The largest meeting room, which is capable of hosting 4,400 people, lies in the BNDCC.

“The MICE facilities for meetings and conferences are sufficient,” said Damayanti.

Separately, head of Bali tourism agency Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu acknowledged that 88 percent of the MICE activities were international-scale programs. Every year, hundreds of MICE events are hosted in Bali.

Data from 2011 issued by the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry showed 1.91 percent of 2,756,579 foreign tourists and 4.1 percent of 5,675,121 domestic tourists came to Bali for MICE-related activities.

Subhiksu was optimistic that the MICE activities would boost other businesses besides hotels, such as hall rental, professional exhibition organizers, professional conference organizers, booth and stage makers, food suppliers, florists, transportation, printing companies and souvenir vendors.

Subhiksu said that as a tourism destination, Bali’s MICE facilities had to be able to compete globally. “Afterwards, we have to optimize our marketing. The potential is huge. Bali is known as a successful host for various important international conferences, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the ASEAN Summit.”