P

ublicly listed developer PT Kawasan Industri Jababeka has targeted to add 5,000 hotel rooms in Tanjung Lesung special economic zone (KEK) in Pandeglang regency, Banten, by 2018.

Jababeka president director SD Darmono said that within the first stage of development, the company would build a total of 100 Marina Boutique hotels, with a total 1,000 rooms that would be finished in the next two years.

'€œWe launched our Marina Boutique Hotels last week, and 23 of them have been sold,'€ Darmono told reporters on Wednesday. '€œWe are planning to complete the construction of the boutique hotels within two years'€™ time,'€ he continued.

He added that apart from the boutique hotels, which are designated for the middle class, a total of 1,000 homestay-style houses would also be built to cater to budget tourists.

According to him, a number of investors had already conveyed their interest in taking part in the development of the KEK, including several international five-star hotels in order to meet the target.

'€œApart from developing hotels, we will also provide facilities to support MICE [meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions], as Tanjung Lesung has the potential to hold huge international events as an alternative option apart from Bali,'€ he said, citing that the company would set aside around Rp 1 trillion (US$77.7 million) in investment for the first stage of construction in the KEK.

In 1991, the government made Tanjung Lesung a tourism development corporation and PT Banten West Java (BWJ) was appointed to develop the area of 1,500 hectares.

The first hotel to open in the area was Tanjung Lesung Beach Resort, operated by French hotel chain Accor, in 1997. Several other hotels followed suit, including Tanjung Lesung Sailing Club and Kalicaa Residence.

The 1998 Asian financial crisis, however, slowed down development in the area. By 2011, Jababeka acquired BWJ and began to redevelop the area.

In February, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo inaugurated the KEK and vowed to build an 83-kilometer long highway connecting Tanjung Lesung to Jakarta, set to be ready for operation in 2018.

Darmono said the government had completed the feasibility study for the toll road and was currently at the stage of preparing an Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal), adding that the firm would assist the government in acquiring the land needed to build the toll road.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya previously said that the government expected to see at least 1 million tourists annually visiting Tanjung Lesung by the time it was fully operational in 2022.

He said that in order to accommodate the tourists, a total of 12,000 hotel rooms, ranging from five-star to boutique hotels, should be developed in the KEK.

Last year, Jababeka signed an agreement with state-owned port operator Pelindo II to build cruise terminal and resort areas in Tanjung Lesung.

With an investment of $50 million that will be derived from the presale of villas in the resort areas as well as from internal cash, the construction of the cruise terminal and the marina is targeted to be finished in three years.