Wow, Hotels In Bintan Are Almost Full Ahead Of The New Year 2021

Banyan Tree Bintan. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Bintan Regency Tourism Office, Riau Islands Province, has recorded that hotel occupancy rates in local tourist areas will reach 90 to 100 percent ahead of the New Year 2021 for the next few days.

Head of the Tourism Office Wan Rudi said that in the Trikora Beach tourism area, all hotels with a capacity of 40 to 70 rooms are fully occupied. In fact, many visitors do not get a place to stay.

Likewise for the international tourism area in Lagoi. The average occupancy rate of a number of hotels there reaches 80 to 100 percent.

He took the Anmon Resort Bintan Hotel as an example. With the design of the iconic and luxurious glamping tent, visitors are hot for grabs.

"Especially now that the price of lodging is targeting the local tourist market. Usually foreign tourists are targeting Rp. 2 million per night, now it is around Rp. 1 million to Rp. 1.4 million per night," said Wan Rudi, quoted from Antara, Thursday, December 31.

Wan Rudi conveyed the increase in hotel occupancy in Bintan ahead of the New Year 2021 because the local area did not implement the mandatory antigen rapid test for visitors.

He said the majority of visitors were from Bintan and Tanjungpinang. They are only obliged to comply with health protocols when staying at hotels, such as wearing masks, keeping their distance, washing their hands and not crowding around.

"Except for local tourists from Batam. There are quite a lot of them, and they only need to do an ordinary quick test with non-reactive results," he said.

Although hotel occupancy has increased, he said, visitors and tourism businesses in Bintan are not allowed to celebrate New Year's Eve 2021 with activities that can trigger a crowd, such as bands, artist concerts, and fireworks parties.

"If you want to make a burning event, go ahead. As long as it is in your respective accommodation and discipline health protocols," he said.

The joint COVID-19 Task Force in Bintan, he said, had started patrols to monitor community activities in tourist spots. "If there is crowd activity, they will be immediately disbanded," said Rudi.

He is grateful that the tourism industry in Bintan is slowly starting to rise, even though the doors for foreign tourists to the area have not been opened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rudi admitted that so far Bintan tourism has relied on foreign tourist visits, especially since it is geographically located directly adjacent to Singapore and Malaysia.

Currently, Bintan tourism actors only rely on local tourist visits with various attractive promos.

"We hope that foreign tourist access to this area will be opened soon, at least gradually and in a limited number. Moreover, Bintan tourism is very ready with the implementation of strict health protocols for overseas visitors," said Rudi.