P

T Grand Uway Development will open a 15 hectare integrated tourism and business resort worth Rp 1.5 trillion (US$124.5 million) in Batam, Riau Islands.

"We chose Batam for the resort because the province has been designated as a special economic zone. We believe that this area has good prospects for investment in the future." said Ansyar Heriyadi, the company's president director, in Batam on Tuesday.

He said that the resort will have an international water park endowed with various water tourism facilities, as well as condominium hotel and convention center with a capacity for 6,000 people.

The company will begin con-struction this April and has appointed international property mana-gement Aston International, which has 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, to run the resort.

The construction of the resort located in Batam Center area is expected to be completed in 2011.

The land leveling for the resort took place since last October while the soft opening is expected to take place in December 2010.

According to Ansyari, Batam is the second most visited province in Indonesia after Bali.

Everyday the province sees at least 3,300 tourists, while tou-rism investment there accounts for 16 percent of the province's total private investment of US$800 million.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry has designated Batam as the meeting, incentive, convention, and exhibition (MICE) city.

Aston International operates 30 hotels and resorts across Indonesia. They are also planning to ma-nage several new hotels and resorts this year.

Bali Kuta Resort & Convention Centre and Aston Natsepa Ambon Resort are set to operate this March, while this April, the company is planning to open Aston Kuta Hotel & Residence, Aston Balikpapan Hotel & Residence, Quest Palembang, Aston Manado City Hotel, all 100 percent sunset-managed by Aston.