Anticipating The Megathrust Earthquake Disaster, PHRI Yogyakarta Forms A Special Task Force

Illustration - The megathrust earthquake that made Palu City in Central Sulawesi destroyed in 2019. (Doc. BNPB)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) formed a special task force to ensure disaster preparedness in hotels to face the risk of a megathrust earthquake.

Chairman of PHRI DIY Deddy Pranowo Eryono when contacted in Yogyakarta, Monday, said that the task force was needed to ensure the safety and comfort of tourists or hotel guests while staying in this area.

"We have to show that actually hotels and restaurants are ready to face it, how to anticipate it by managing or mitigating the right disaster," he said.

Deddy explained that the disaster preparedness task force consisted of an old task force that previously handled COVID-19 in hotels and restaurants during the pandemic.

"We are now making the COVID-19 Task Force a disaster task force in a sense to anticipate disasters," he said.

He realized that developing information regarding the potential for a megathrust earthquake in Indonesia could have a broad impact on tourism in DIY, especially if it is not responded well.

However, he claims the issue has not significantly affected the occupancy or occupancy rate of hotel rooms in DIY.

"There is an impact but it is not significant because they (tourists) know that the disaster will occur anywhere, not only in DIY," he said.

PHRI DIY, continued Deddy, has coordinated with the DIY Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) to facilitate disaster mitigation training for hotel business actors.