PHRI: As Many As 80 Percent Of Hotels In Indonesia Have Re-Operated

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association said that around 80 percent of hotels in Indonesia had returned to operations in July 2020. This is in line with the new normal adaptation phase launched by the government.

The number of hotel units according to PHRI is currently around 2000-1n. Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Hariyadi Sukamdani said the operation of 80 percent of hotels was an attempt to test the market after having stopped operating since April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Although demand is still low, the opening in July is for a market test. In fact, there is a dilemma as well, because if demand is low the count will still be a loss," he said in a webinar, Tuesday, July 28.

Hotel occupancy since reopening is still below 20 percent. According to Hariyadi, to reach the break event point (BEP), hotel occupancy must reach at least 30 percent.

Although the recovery will take place slowly, Hariyadi is still optimistic that the prospect of the hotel business is still promising in the future. Hariyadi saw an increase in human movement following the easing of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).

However, Hariyadi emphasized that there are still concerns among hotel businessmen. According to him, a number of areas still have concerns about closure again when the number of COVID-19 infections soars.

"Now the question is, whether the local government is ready or not to maintain momentum," he said.

During the last six months, Hariyadi said, the hotel sector lost potential revenue of IDR 40 trillion, because more than 2,000 hotel units were closed. Meanwhile, the restaurant sector also experienced the same thing.

"The potential for lost revenue reaches Rp45 trillion with 8,000 restaurant units closed," said Hariyadi.

He added that the potential for foreign exchange lost from the tourism sector during the first semester of 2020 was US $ 6 billion. The tour operator business also lost Rp. 4 trillion and airlines lost US $ 812 million.

In May 2020, he noted that there were only 90,000 domestic trips, down 98.34 percent. Meanwhile, only 10,000 international trips or a drop of 99.18 percent.

The average occupancy rate for hotels by mid-July 2020 in Jakarta is only 20 percent, Semarang and Malang 15 percent, Yogyakarta 10 percent, Medan 10 percent, and Makassar 8 percent. More tragically, Bali, which is known as a tourism destination, only has an occupancy of 1 percent.

Based on data from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry on May 19, 2020, the restaurant sector contributed to the unemployment figure of 430,000 people, hotels by 1 million people, and transportation by 1.4 million people. Then the derivative sector from hotels and restaurants such as textiles as many as 2.1 million people, footwear for 500,000 people and retail as many as 400,000 people.