Mayor Gibran Has Homework: How To Make Tourists Feel Comfortable In Solo

Mayor of Solo, Gibran Rakabuming Raka. (Photo: Doc. City Government of Solo)

JAKARTA - The low length of stay for tourists in Solo is still the homework of the Surakarta City Government because so far the achievements have not matched expectations.

"From our data, the average length of stay for domestic tourists in Solo is only 1.50 days, while foreign tourists are 2.50 days," said Secretary of the Surakarta City Tourism Office Budy Sartono in Solo, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, March 24.

Meanwhile, the average hotel occupancy in the city led by Gibran Rakabuming over the past year was still at 29.35 percent. According to Budy, one of the reasons for the low average length of stay and occupancy is the lack of attractions at night.

"We have not provided attractions, night entertainment so they want to stay longer. There is food for up to 24 hours, but not entertainment yet," he said.

In fact, he said, from a tourist destination point of view, Solo City has various alternatives. He noted that currently the city of Solo has 20 tourist destinations. This condition is supported by supplies from the tourism industry, including the existence of star hotels, which currently have 48 hotels and non-star hotels as many as 97 hotels.

"As for the availability of rooms in Solo, there are as many as 4,350 rooms. In addition, we have 37 certified guides and 68 travel agents," he said.

Meanwhile, with the supply of the tourism industry from various sectors, his party hopes that the number of tourists this year can at least be close to last year's contribution to regional revenue (PAD) which can also reach Rp.

Based on data, the realization of the number of tourists last year was 1,420,315 people, with details of 1,415,830 domestic tourists and 4,485 foreign tourists. Meanwhile, in terms of local revenue contributed by hotels, restaurants and entertainment last year amounted to Rp. 60.682 billion.

He said the PAD in this sector has increased when compared to 2019, which amounted to IDR111,882 billion. Based on data, PAD for hotels, restaurants and entertainment in 2020 contributed 4.57 percent to gross regional domestic product (GRDP) and in 2019 contributed 5.41 percent.