TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said that two major investors are interested in building a 5-star hotel in the Lake Toba area. Currently, the tourist area does not yet have 5-star accommodation facilities.

"[The investors] have contacted us and we are currently following up on it," Sandiaga said when met at the ministry building on Monday, March 13. "One is from China and another is a local [investor]," he said.

Sandiaga explained, the investors expressed their interest during his working visit to Hong Kong. "Lake Toba is indeed one of the destinations that we offer to investors," he said.

Initially, the hotels were to be constructed at Balige. However, due to land limitation, Sandiaga said, the construction is directed towards the Caldera area, roughly 45 minutes from Balige.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that three-star hotels are banned from being constructed in the Lake Toba area. According to Sandiaga, this is because there are already a number of homestays and hotels equivalent to 3-stars accommodation establishments operating in the area.

The Lake Toba area, he said, needed better accommodation than that, especially as his ministry plans to hold international scale events there. "Five-star hotels are a must," Sandiaga Uno had said on February 27.

TEMPO.CO

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