The 7.6-magnitude earthquake that devastated West Sumatra last week has left the local hotel industry in tatters, officials and business players say.
"The impact is much worse compared to the aftermath of the earthquake in Yogyakarta in 2006," Sapta Nirwandar, the Culture and Tourism Ministry's director general of marketing, told The Jakarta Post on Friday in Padang, West Sumatra.
Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) chairwoman S.B. Wiryanti Sukamdani agreed, saying that although many hotels in Yogyakarta had been damaged in the 2006 quake, none had been decimated as in Padang.
"That's the difference here, and it's really concerning," she said.
The Sept. 30 quake has killed hundreds of people, with thousands more feared trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.
It also has destroyed or crippled six of the nine star-rated hotels in Padang. Those flattened by the quake include the Ambacang Hotel (three stars) and the Hayam Wuruk Hotel (one star).
Those suffering severe damage include the Rocky Hotel (three stars), New Mariani Hotel (two stars) and Inna Muara Hotel (three stars).
The four-star Bumiminang Hotel is moderately damaged.
Far more non-star-rated hotels have been completely leveled or heavily hit.
Maulana Yusran, chairman of the PHRI's West Sumatra branch, said the quake had damaged an estimated 80 percent of hotels in Padang.
"At least 500 of the previously available 1,200 rooms are no longer usable," he said.
That situation is being keenly felt by the hordes of reporters, humanitarian workers and victims' relatives flooding the city, made worse by the fact that many of the hotels that rode out the quake unscathed have not yet reopened for business.
Both Maulana and Sapta expressed hope that repairs and reconstruction on the damaged hotels would be carried out soon to prevent further damaging the tourism industry in the province.
In a separate development, cash aid of Rp 5,000 a day per person has been distributed to survivors of the quake in the province.
West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi said the cash aid was provided by the government and would be paid out for the duration of the emergency period, which lasts until the end of the month.
"We handed out the first batch of the cash aid of Rp 22 billion for the first 10 days of the emergency period on Wednesday to the 11 regencies and municipalities where survivors have been displaced by the earthquake," Gamawan told the Post on Thursday.
The government, he added, had agreed to disburse Rp 66 billion in cash aid to survivors whose houses were heavily damaged in the quake.
The fund will be disbursed in three batches.
Data from the provincial disaster mitigation coordinating unit shows 122,884 houses were heavily damaged in the quake.
However, only 44,000 families have been listed as recipients of the cash aid.
Padang Deputy Mayor Mahyeldi Ansharullah said his administration had received Rp 7 billion for the first batch of the cash aid.
"We'll collect data as soon as possible for the distribution of the cash aid," he said.
Separately, Wirabraja Military Commander Col. Mulyono, who is also the coordinator of the victim recovery efforts, said Thursday recovery efforts in Padang were focused at the Ambacang Hotel, LIA Indonesia building, Pasar Raya and Ayu Tabing store.
The official death toll from the disaster mitigation unit was 739 as of Thursday, with 309 of the fatalities in Padang, 335 in Padang Pariaman, 43 in Agam, 37 in Pariaman, nine in Pesisir Selatan, three in West Pasaman and three in Solok.
The number of missing has been put at 296, of which 237 are in Padang Pariaman, 54 in Agam and five in Padang.
Total financial losses from the quake have been estimated at Rp 2.18 trillion.
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