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s part of efforts to tap into opportunities from the high number of travelers visiting Bandung in West Java, Innside hotel, owned by Spain-based Meliá Hotels International, has signed an agreement with PT Dago Trisinergi Properti for management of the new hotel, The Maj, slated to finish construction in 2017.

Meliá'€™s executive vice president (EVP) Andre Gerondeau said Bandung was chosen as the city was a honeypot for both business and tourism.

'€œWe target businesspeople, who looking for leisure time during their business trips and tourists looking for premium lifestyle accommodation,'€ Gerondeau said recently.

The Maj, located in the business and entertainment area Dago, is currently 10 percent complete, with contractor PT Wijaya Karya in charge of the construction.

The first building will be used for apartments and the second as a four-star condominium hotel (condotel).

Despite the mushrooming hotel business in Bandung, Gerondeau is optimistic that The Maj will be able to take a share of the thriving tourism in the West Java province'€™s capital.

Bandung hosted the 60th anniversary of Asian-African Conference in April and is home to thousands of creative industries, especially design, indie music, as well as clothing factories and distribution outlets.

The close proximity with Jakarta '€” a two hour drive '€” and direct flights to and from big cities in the country as well as Singapore and Malaysia, as well as the planned high-speed railway from Jakarta to Bandung are all pull factors for the hotel industry.

'€œIt'€™s an opportunity to grow,'€ he said, adding that the country'€™s nearly six-year-low economic growth rate would still provide enough room for company expansion.

Meanwhile, England Rachman, director of PT Dago Trisinergi Properti, said that his company had invested Rp 490 billion (US$36 million) for the project, adding that his company had sold 60 percent of the apartments and 11 percent of the condos on offer.

Apartment sizes range from studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments from Rp 1.1 billion to Rp 2 billion, while at the condotel deluxe, superior and suite options range from Rp 1.3 billion to
Rp 2.6 billion.

The Maj is part of Meliá'€™s expansion plan in the Asia-Pacific for the next three years.

In addition to the Bandung hotel, it plans to have nine new hotels by 2018 in Ubud, Kuta, Legian and Jimbaran in Bali; Surabaya in East Java; Makassar in South Sulawesi and one each in Bintan and Yogyakarta.

Currently, Meliá has four branches in Jakarta and Bali. (rbk)