TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) West Kalimantan chapter, Yuliardi Qamal, said that the occupancy rate of hotels in Singkawang ahead of the Lantern Festival, known as Cap Go Meh, in this year's Chinese New Year celebration reached 100 percent.

"Singkawang has become a tourist destination, especially during Cap Go Meh which has indeed become a tourist center for both local and domestic, and even foreign tourists. It positively impacted the hotel occupancy rate and is confirmed to be 100 percent full, even requiring additional lodging," said Yuliardi in Pontianak, Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

The Chinese New Year and Cap Go Meh celebrations also affected Pontianak as the provincial capital. In the hotel sector, he continued, the occupancy rate could increase by 85 percent compared to normal days.

"This means that the impact of Chinese New Year and Cap Go Meh is very broad because this tradition will bring our Chinese Indonesian brothers who previously lived in other areas to come and celebrate with their relatives. All sectors are active with this celebration including locally generated revenue will increase," he explained.

According to Yuliardi, the revocation of the Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) could encourage the variety of aspects of the economy to rise and grow.

"We are prepared to support the economic recovery and government policies. The hope is that this is also the time to revive tourism or other activities in West Kalimantan so that the economy would continue to flow. We are optimistic this year will be much better," he said.

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) released on January 3, 2023, the occupancy rate of high-rating hotels in West Kalimantan in November 2022 was 57.09 percent, an increase by 6.60 from October 2022's at 50.49 percent. Meanwhile, the occupancy rate of standard hotels dropped by 2.07 from 29.79 percent to 27.72 percent.

Meanwhile, the average length of stay for high-rating hotel guests in West Kalimantan in November 2022 was 1.75 days, a 0.09 increase compared to October 2022 which was recorded at about 1.66 days. Whereas the average length of stay of standard hotel guests decreased by 0.04 from 1.23 to 1.19 days.

Martha Warta Silaban | Translator: Intern / Imaji Lasahido

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