TEMPO.CO, Malang - Digdoyo Djamaludin, Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) in Probolinggo Regency, said that volcanic ash spewing out from Mount Bromo has caused hotel occupancy in the region to decline sharply. Hotel occupancy rate last Saturday, December 12, 2015, was only two percent. Another cause of the dropping occupancy rate was the fact that access to the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park was closed.
Data from PHRI Probolinggo showed that there are 14 hotels with a total of 525 rooms located around Mount Bromo. However, only 10 out of 525 rooms were occupied. "Only two percent," said Digdoyo.
Dropping rate of tourist visits was also caused by the closed-off Abdulrachman Saleh Airport in Malang. The airport has been closed since last Friday.
Suharno, Chief of Technical Unit at Abdulrachman Saleh Airport said that the airport will only be re-opened if AirNav Indonesia issued a notice to airmen.
Commercial flights from Malang to Jakarta and Denpasar have been suspended since Friday because of Mount Bromo's unstable condition.
ABDI PURMONO | DAVID PRIYASIDHARTA