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Hotels expect to receive fewer foreign guests
Indonesian hotels will see fewer foreign guests early next year as the economic slowdown in the US and Europe will reduce tourist arrivals to the country, a hotel association estimates
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ndonesian hotels will see fewer foreign guests early next year as the economic slowdown in the US and Europe will reduce tourist arrivals to the country, a hotel association estimates.
“The crisis will definitely have impacts on the hotel business in the country because of fewer foreign tourist arrivals from regions experiencing the crisis,” executive director of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Carla Parengkuan told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry estimates that foreign tourist arrivals will grow only 3.8 percent to about 8 million in 2012, from the 7.7 million people projected to visit this year.
The number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia between January through October 2011 rose 8.47 percent to 6.27 million people from 5.78 million during the same period last year, according to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data.
“The impact will be felt especially during low seasons, such as January to March,” Carla said.
She, however, estimated that the projected decline in foreign arrivals would not seriously affect hotel occupancy rates because the number of domestic tourists would remain high despite the global economic slowdown.
“The current trend is that Indonesian travelers prefer staying at hotels rather than at homes of relatives when they visit them [relatives],” she added.
BPS data show that occupancy rates nationwide grow steadily annually.
The occupancy rate of star rated hotels in 20 provinces in October 2011 was 54.87 percent, a 1.73 percentage point increase compared to 53.14 percent over the same period in 2010.
However, she said that data from the Global Hotel Index (GHI) showed a higher figure.
“As of September 2011, Indonesia’s occupancy rate is 71.8 percent. We are above some international regions,” she said.
According to GHI, Indonesia outdid the Americas, Asia Pacific and Middle East/Africa regions.The US’ occupancy rate during the same period was only 63.4 percent while the Asia Pacific’s and Middle East/Africa’s were 68.1 percent and 58.4 percent, respectively.
Europe was leading the world regions’ hotel occupancy rate with 72.2 percent.
In order to be able to compensate for the decline in visitors from Europe and the US, she said that directing tourism promotions at relatively crisis-free countries such as China, India and ASEAN was a must.
“They are the strongest markets we have for next year,” she said.
Ministry data show double digit growth in foreign tourists from ASEAN, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia and the Middle East visiting Indonesia this year and is predicted to rise steadily next year. (nfo)
