PHRI Chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani Hopes That The Revocation Of PPKM Will Raise The Hotel Industry In 2023

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Hariyadi Sukamdani hopes that the lifting of the implementation of community activity restrictions (PPKM) will boost the growth of the hotel industry in 2023.

The revocation of PPKM made people even more daring to travel, so that hotel occupancy rates also grew. In addition, the large number of government activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the G20 Summit (KTT) helped support this industry.

"We hope that this year the hotel occupancy rate can return to the way it was in 2019," said Hariyadi, quoted from Antara, Saturday, February 11.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that the room occupancy rate (TPK) of star-classified hotels in Indonesia in December 2022 reached 56.9 percent, up 5.33 points compared to the December 2021 TPK.

Compared to the previous month, the TPK in December 2022 also experienced an increase, which was 2.49 points.

The TPK for non-star classification hotels in December 2022 was recorded at 26.45 percent, up 1.88 points compared to the TPK in December 2021 and an increase of 2.41 points compared to the previous month.

Hariyadi said the growth in hotel occupancy rates was mainly due to domestic tourist visits, while foreign tourists had not had a significant impact.

However, with the recent opening from China, he expects the number of foreign tourists coming to the hotel to increase.

Contacted separately, Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) Bhima Yudhistira said the revocation of PPKM made people immediately spend quite a lot of money to travel. The increase in tourism will grow its derivative industries, such as the hotel industry.

"The estimated trend of tourism consumption will continue when Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr arrive," said Bhima.

Senior Economist at the Center of Reform on Economics (Core) Indonesia Yusuf Rendy Manilet said the increase in hotel occupancy rates this year was caused by several factors, namely the staycation trend and the increasing number of hotels that received COVID-19 free certificates from the government.

Therefore, he suggested that the hotel industry could improve facilities, provide promotions, and obtain COVID-19 free certificates from the government to attract tourists.

"These three steps will make tourists more comfortable and feel safe when staying at hotels," said Yusuf.