Asparnas Asks The Government To Provide Solutions To The Hospitality Industry

JAKARTA - The National Tourism Association (Asparnas) has asked the government to provide solutions to the hotel industry which is starting to be affected by the budget efficiency imposed.

Asparnas General Chair Ngadiman Sudiaman said the budget efficiency policy launched by the President had an impact on hotel operations and caused significant potential losses.

"From January and February, the turnover decrease reached an average of 30 percent compared to last year. In March, when entering the fasting month, it is usually quieter," he said in a statement in Jakarta, Sunday.

His party has not calculated for sure how much potential overall revenue loss is, but several hotels and companies engaged in tourism have begun to make efficiency by gradually reducing employees.

Ngadiman added, in 2024 the average occupancy decreased by almost 20 percent compared to 2023 so that it was felt that it hit hotel, entertainment, and restaurant entrepreneurs. Even in some areas, many businesses have closed.

He gave an example in December 2024 in Bali, where there are usually many visitors, many houses fell by 30 percent and even up to 50 percent.

"This indicates that the low purchasing power of the global community and tourists is also decreasing to come to Indonesia," he said.

He admitted that the government's budget cuts had a long-term and broad impact not only in the restaurant and hotel sectors.

Ngadiman stated that his party regretted that the government issued the regulation without seeing the impact in a number of sectors, not just hotels.

In addition to hotel occupancy occupancy, he continued, budget efficiency also has an impact on hotel tax payments to the government and companies.

"Because reducing the budget for meetings and official travel will certainly reduce turnover from hotel entrepreneurs, airlines, restaurants and other MSMEs," he added.

However, the Chairperson of Asparnas supports the government's budget efficiency policy regarding restrictions on official travel is aimed at going abroad.

"But, for domestic purposes, not because of the money, it rotates in Indonesia and drives the national economy," he said.

If the government does not spend and the private sector is also sluggish, he continued, it is feared that the hotel industry will die so that it is forced to carry out efficiency and layoffs because there is no other strategy.

"We ask the government to give us a solution so that we can all survive," he said.

If you don't do layoffs, he added, the thing that can be done is to reduce employee working hours or working days so that the salary is adjusted.

President Prabowo Subianto through Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 1 of 2025 concerning Expenditure Efficiency in the Implementation of the State Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 cut the regional government (Pemda) official travel budget by 50 percent.

In the Presidential Instruction, it is explained that the total efficiency of IDR 306.6 trillion in the state budget, consisting of a ministry/institutional expenditure budget in 2025 of IDR 256.1 trillion and a transfer to the regions of IDR 50.5 trillion.