T

he Paramount Group, one of Indonesia’s major property developers, plans to build 99 new hotels over the next 10 years to expand its hospitality interests in the country, a senior company official said in Jakarta on Friday.

“We are collaborating with Aston International to operate the hotels and will open five hotels this year alone,” group president director Tanto Kurniawan said on the sidelines of the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Standard Chartered Bank on real estate development loans.

He said that Paramount and Aston would focus on building two and four-star properties in-line with current hotel business trends in Indonesia.

The five hotels that will be opened this year are the four-star Aston Paramount in Serpong, the two-star Fave Hotel in Serpong and three other Aston hotels in Serang, Banten; Magelang, Central Java; and Malang, East Java.

Each hotel will have as many as 144 rooms, particularly the four-star hotels, which are planned to have ballrooms capable of accommodating 2,000 people. “We are going to open 12 new hotels next year in Bogor, Bali, Lombok, Yogyakarta and Manado,” he said.

He said that the group plans to spend approximately Rp 40 billion (US$4.4 million) for a two-star property, Rp 70 billion ($ 7.7 million) for a three-star hotel and up to Rp 120 billion ($ 13.2 million) for a four-star hotel.

In addition, Tanto said that Paramount was not intimidated by the fierce competition in Indonesia’s hospitality business because of its partnerships with major hotel chains. By operating in different hotel classifications, the Paramount Group could cover all market segments, he said.

“We are optimistic that the hospitality business will thrive in the future,” he commented.

According to corporate marketing communications manager Febri Anindita, the occupancy rate of Fave Hotels currently operating in Surabaya, Jakarta, Surakarta, Central Java, and Denpasar and Semi-nyak in Bali is around 93 percent.

Febri said that Aston had developed the concept of affordable accommodations five years ago, but they were only able to begin providing such accommodations two years ago.

Aston currently operates 42 hotels in Indonesia, including two four-star classifications in Jayapura, Papua, and Manokwari, West Papua.

Tanto added that the property business in Indonesia is growing even stronger due to a healthier monetary system and the growing middle class.

“The Paramount Group is enjoying increased sales every year as the Indonesian economy is growing tremendously,” he said, adding that the group’s sales reached up to Rp 2.6 trillion at the end of 2011, a 167 percent jump from 2010’s Rp 1.2 trillion. The group has set a sales target of Rp 3.2 trillion for 2012.

Paramount also plans to open Bethsaida Hospital this year — a general hospital in Serpong with ambitions of becoming a premier cardiology center. (nfo)