JAKARTA - The COVID-19 pandemic that has been ongoing since last year has put pressure on the economy and business sector. Many businessmen have gone out of business because they cannot survive, one of which is in the hotel sector. Several businessmen have been forced to sell their hotels in Jakarta through a number of marketplaces.
The hotels for sale include Le Meridien Hotel on Jenderal Sudirman Road, Central Jakarta, sold for IDR 2.7 trillion by the Best Properties Indonesia account at OLX. Advertising for the sale of Le Meridien Hotel is also available in several other marketplaces.
Then, the Hotel Ibis Budget Jakarta, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, was sold for IDR 85 billion. The Ibis Budget Jakarta hotel was sold by the Aldila Aspan account on February 1, 2021.
When confirmed, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Maulana Yusran said the phenomenon of selling hotels had indeed occurred since before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this condition is worsened by the pandemic.
According to Yusran, the sale of hotels in Jakarta during the COVID-19 pandemic was carried out as a solution to avoiding deeper losses. This is because the hotel operating costs and credit payments are still running, while the income is not.
"If they are asked why they are selling, is it because any pressure? So you see, this hotel and restaurant are already in their 12th month, yes they cannot rise at all. Not to mention talking to rise up, it's hard to survive already," he said when contacted by VOI, Thursday, February 4.
Furthermore, Yusran said, the hotel industry is difficult to survive not only from the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic but also from various policies issued by the government that has resulted in restrictions on mobility or community activities.
"Because of that policy, everyone is holding back their movement. On the other hand, hotels and restaurants really need movement. Coupled with this time limitation also affects consumer traffic to move. Not to mention the problem of testing to use airplanes, which are now only given a time limit of 2 days," he said.
According to him, various policies issued by the government are very burdensome for business actors in the hotel industry sector. However, he did not deny that restrictions were needed to prevent the massive spread of the virus.
Even so, he said, the government's restrictive policies were not running optimally, where active cases of COVID-19 in the country continued to increase, while the economy was under pressure. As a result, the impact on hotel occupancy has decreased dramatically.
"The impact is not only on the Java island but also throughout Indonesia. This is added to the conditions that are currently in the low season. This is what makes business players breathless because this is not 2 or 3 months and this has entered the 12th month," he said.
Yusran explained that if this condition continues without assistance from the government, many hotels and restaurants will go bankrupt. As a result, layoffs are inevitable.
"We have not seen that the workforce sector (layoffs) will increase. Because business actors cannot pay salaries from the workforce itself and now how is the workforce?", he said.
Therefore, he said, in this difficult time the government must share the burden and not delegate everything to entrepreneurs. He also suggested that the government should carry out more massive tracing in residential areas, not only in the business sector such as hotels and restaurants.
"But we have never seen how the situation is in a densely populated environment such as in markets or roadside stalls. The implementation of health protocols in the community. How it is not increasing if it is not controlled there," he said.
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