Impact Of The COVID-19 Pandemic, PHRI DKI: Many Hotels For Sale

JAKARTA - The Association of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI) DKI Jakarta has revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the financial condition of hotel companies. As a result, some hoteliers have started selling their hotels.

Chairman of BPD PHRI Sutrisno Iwantono said, the trigger for pressure on financial performance was the decreased occupancy or occupancy level of hotels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, hotel occupancy is only under 20 percent.

Furthermore, he said, the occupancy rate of only 20 percent had an impact on reduced hotel revenue. Meanwhile, the company's operating expenses are still continuing.

In fact, said Sutrisno, over the past 5 years, hotel occupancy has indeed decreased. From about 70 percent to about 56 percent.

"We can see in the various publications that many hotels are being sold," he said, in Jakarta, Sunday, January 17.

But unfortunately, Sutrisno admitted that he had not yet obtained an exact figure for the number of businessmen who sold their hotel assets. Even though he was sold, he claimed that hotel workers did not experience layoffs (PHK).

"The hotel is still operating but is managed by another party, so workers still have a job. That does not mean that they have lost their jobs. However, what is clear is that many have been housed since April," he said.

Sutrisno said that currently the hotel and restaurant industry is still in a slump and has not experienced a significant recovery. This is because the high level of COVID-19 transmission has made some people tend to refrain from traveling.

According to him, if this health problem can be handled properly, this will foster confidence for the middle and upper class who have money to consume in hotels and restaurants.

"Health problems are a determining factor. The priority of improving health must be higher," he said.