State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura I (AP I) says it wants to open seven hotels in 2013 to take advantage of an increase in the number of business and leisure travelers in the nation
tate-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura I (AP I) says it wants to open seven hotels in 2013 to take advantage of an increase in the number of business and leisure travelers in the nation.
The hotels will include budget and upscale facilities and be located at major airports operated by the firm, including Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java; Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi; and Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali.
“In the first half of 2013, we are going to open our first two hotels, in Surabaya and Makassar. Both will be budget class, with 265 rooms and eight meeting rooms,” Widodo Marmer, the president director of Angkasa Pura Hotels (APH), AP I’s subsidiary focusing on hospitality sector, said on Tuesday.
The hotels will have a Rp 70 billion (US$7.28 billion) price tag and be operated by Accor, the largest hotel operator in the Asia-Pacific region, under its Ibis Budget brand. “We expect to start the operation of our hotel in Surabaya in the middle of February, while the one in Makassar will open in April,” Widodo said.
The company also plans to build an upscale hotel on a 10,000-square-meter plot near Ngurah Rai International Airport to be used for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2013. “Bali will need more accommodations during APEC, and we are ready to support the event.”
The firm would open a second hotel in Bali next year to take advantage of the island’s popularity as a tourist destination, according to Widodo.
Angkara Pura I previously said that it would directly operate 2,450 hotels rooms by the end of 2016, so that it would no longer need to collaborate with others to manage its hotels.
Widodo added that the firm planned to open non-airport hotels in several cities across the nation in the next several years.
AP I president director Tommy Soetomo previously said that firm’s new business plan was in line with planned renovations of the 13 airports it operates.
The firm has spent Rp 6.4 trillion ($665.6 million) between 2011 and 2013 for airport expansions, including Rp 2.7 trillion in Ngurah Rai to increase its annual passenger capacity from 9 million to 25 million passengers, and for a new apron that can accommodate up to 20 wide-body aircraft. The expansion is expected to be complete by May.
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