TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno explained the reason why Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan prohibited investors from building 3-star hotels in Lake Toba, North Sumatra.

“Pak Luhut asks us to focus on [building] 5-star hotels because the market for 3-star hotels is already managed and available. There are several [3-star] hotels that have been established and are operating, but the 5-star ones are not yet [available in Lake Toba],” said Sandiaga in "The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno" on Monday, February 27.

Sandiaga continued that there are no international-class 5-star hotels in the Lake Toba area to date. This was a question mark for the F1 PowerBoat championship participants. “We need more accommodation on Lake Toba, especially if we want to initiate international scale events. A 5-star hotel is a must,” Sandiaga underlined.

However, he continued, the quality of homestays must also be improved. According to him, the homestay price per night is Rp350,000 per night, including breakfast.

“We will continue to coordinate, but it is clear that an international standard hotel is needed in the Lake Toba area, including live-on-board service. We are pushing several live-on-board services to be immediately available because this can overcome the shortage of rooms, such as in Labuan Bajo,” Sandiaga Uno said.

AMELIA RAHIMA SARI

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