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Busy businesses in quiet economic centers during Idul Fitri holiday
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Jl. Sudirman in the central business district of Jakarta, just before the Idul Fitri holidays, looks quiet when compared to normal periods when it is usually congested. (JP/VPS)
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ajor economic centers across the country are mostly quiet during the Idul Fitri holiday period, as people have gone back to their hometowns across the archipelago to observe the Muslim celebration with their families. But for these following businesses, demand is off the chart and they may have been busier than ever during the festive holiday season in the world’s largest Muslim-populated country.
Hampers
People usually conclude the fasting month by sending hampers of cookies, snacks or dinnerware to their relatives. It represents the nation’s culture of giving during Idul Fitri festivities.
There are several places in Jakarta where people can buy or request special hampers, locally known as “parcel”, such as on Jl. Cikini Raya in Central Jakarta or Jl. Barito Raya in South Jakarta.
Utomo, 52, one of the parcel sellers in Jl. Barito Raya, said Thursday that his revenue had increased by at least 80 percent compared to normal periods. The peak period took place a week before Idul Fitri [observed on July 6], he said.
By that time, he sold around 200 hampers at prices ranging from Rp 200,000 (US$15.15) to Rp 400,000 for a set of dinnerware. Meanwhile, snack hampers are priced at Rp 150,000 to Rp 200,000 and Rp 150,000 to Rp 300,000 is charged for special hampers consisting of various cookies, snacks, syrup bottles and soda cans.
E-commerce
As most people have shifted their spending behavior to online shopping, e-commerce players have reported a 30 to 40 percent annual increase in income during the Idul Fitri holidays, according to the Indonesian E-commerce Association (idEA).
Meanwhile, Alibaba Group’s UC Browser has recorded that 81 percent of the country’s netizens has visited online shopping websites like Lazada, Tokopedia and Bukalapak during the fasting month, as reported by Antara.
“Traffic of B2C [business to consumers] sites such as Lazada and marketplaces like Tokopedia and Bukalapak has rapidly increased during Ramadhan,” said Alibaba Mobile Business Group general manager Kenny Ye on June 30. “There are three main factors [that have led to this]: big discounts, trusted websites and safe payment gateways.”
On the other hand, online fashion retailer Zalora has booked a 350 percent increase year-on-year in Muslim clothing sales ahead of the Idul Fitri, as reported by Tempo. Zalora chief executive officer Anthony Fung even said on June 29 that the number of the company’s new consumers had increased 44 percent.
Transportation
Transportation has been one of the busiest sectors during the Idul Fitri peak period. Even major airlines and the state railway operator have prepared hundreds of thousands of extra seats for Idul Fitri travelers this year, including accommodating their return journey after the long holiday is over.
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, for instance, has added 29,290 more seats through extra flights during this year’s Idul Fitri peak period of June 24 to July 17. It is also providing 13 extra domestic flights to big cities, namely Balikpapan, Bandung, Denpasar, Padang, Semarang, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.
Other airlines have also prepared extra seating. Sriwijaya Air has added 191,000 extra seats, AirAsia Indonesia has added 5,600 extra seats and Citilink has added 16,800 extra seats.
Meanwhile, state-owned railway operator PT KAI has added 14 extra trips to Yogyakarta, Central Java, and several other cities in that region, as well as in East Java, as it prepares to see a 5 percent increase in the number of Idul Fitri travelers to 1.59 million this year, from the 1.52 million recorded last year.
Services
While housekeepers are on leave during the Idul Fitri, many people tend to hire online cleaning services to keep their places tidy. Hence, it has led to mounting orders for online providers like Tukang Bersih and Sapulidi Professional.
Tukang Bersih sales manager Arianto said Tuesday that the company had been overbooked with more than 20 orders per day in the days before Idul Fitri, with most requests coming from houses and apartments in South Jakarta. It receives 15 orders on a normal day. Its service fees range from Rp 149,000 to Rp 399,000, depending on the size of the residence and duration of work.
Meanwhile, Sapulidi Professional has seen an increase of orders by 30 percent to 40 percent in June and July, compared to regular months, with orders coming from residents of houses, apartments and even mosques during Ramadhan.
To cater to different demands, it offers single visits with fees ranging from Rp 300,000 to Rp 850,000, and multiple monthly visits with fees of Rp 800,000 to Rp 1.2 million.
“Demand is always high during holidays celebrations, such as Idul Fitri, Christmas and Chinese New Year,” said Sapulidi cofounder Mohammad Rizali Noor.
Telecommunications
Around 84 million people in the country are estimated to have access to mobile Internet. It means that during the Idul Fitri, “Happy Eid” mobile greetings, both in picture and video format, are expected to be exchanged between millions of Indonesians.
XL Axiata has prepared since the late June by increasing its network capacity two or threefold during the holiday season, predicting a 30 to 40 percent increase in data usage. Meanwhile, Indosat Ooredoo has also increased its capacity to be able to handle up to 6.3 terabytes a day of data usage, with an expected 80 percent spike in data traffic.
Overall, as much as 2,700 terabytes of data will be consumed by Indonesians over the Ramadhan and Idul Fitri season, according to data management and storage company NetApp. Telkomsel, the nation’s largest mobile network operator has expected to see a 5 to 15 percent rise in SMS services over the period.
Hotels
The government has previously expected an increase in traveler volume to 26 million during this year’s Idul Fitri, from 20 million last year, which could lead to a nationwide increase in the hotel occupancy rate.
Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) chairman Hariyadi B. Sukamdani said Thursday that hotel occupancy rates for popular travelers’ destinations, namely Bali, Bandung, Cirebon, Malang, Pekalongan, Semarang, Surakarta, and Yogyakarta, had increased by 75 to 90 percent.
Meanwhile, Jakarta has seen the opposite as its hotel occupancy rate has fallen to 20 to 35 percent from around 50 percent in normal days, according to the association. However, Hotel Mulia director of communications Romy Herlambang said that the company had recorded a moderate increase during the Idul Fitri holidays, even though she refused to state the exact figure.
“The occupancy rate has increased because there are Jakartans who have decided to stay in the city, as well as non-Jakartans who have been on vacation here,” she said. (vps/est)
