TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chief of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Hariyadi Sukamdani stated that he has received reports of 1,266 hotels closing due to being impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia, with the hotel employees asked to take leave.

“The latest report declared that 1,266 hotels have closed as of yesterday afternoon, Monday, April 6. Realistically, there must be more because (what we know) is still based on reports," Hariyadi said in Jakarta, on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Of that number, Hariyadi expects more than 150,000 employees to be impacted.

In terms of the food and beverage industry, Hariyadi evaluated that a number of restaurants have closed down their businesses because a number of malls have also been closed.

Furthermore, according to Hariyadi, the number of restaurants that serve delivery and take away services is still very limited.

However, Hariyadi acknowledged that data on restaurants is not the most accurate, due to Hariyadi evaluating practitioners of the food and beverage industry to lack discipline, in terms of data collection.

Hariyadi revealed that the PHRI continues to maintain coordination with the Ministry of Tourism and the Creative Economy to handle the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

"But, if the problem is that the economy stops, nothing can be done. Automatically, all (the businesses) will be unable to do anything, because there is no cash flow," he continued.

Continuing on, Hariyadi expressed his concerns on hotels not being able to pay employee salaries and Holiday Allowance (THR) for the coming Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, due to the drop in income.

“Businesses rely on cash flow; now there is nothing. Now the big problem is the livelihood for their employees. If the company has no income, we cannot pay employee salaries or the THR," he added.

ANTARA | DIO SUHENDA (INTERN TRANSLATOR)