Hotel Occupancy Tumbles on Airfare Hike: Tourism Ministry

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Tourism Ministry said hotel occupancy rate had slipped by around 20-30 percent in light of the recent airfare hike and paid baggage policy. 

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the higher airfare and paid baggage policy had impinged on the hotel sector, as evident in the 30 percent decline in hotel occupancy rate in Lombok.

“Riau, Batam, and almost all regions in Indonesia have been affected. Domestic tourism was hit the hardest while foreign tourism was not directly affected. Occupancy rate that used to be 60 percent is now just 30 percent to 40 percent. The impact is direct and perhaps [the occupancy] will return to normal,” he said on the sidelines of the national work meeting of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) on Monday. 

Read: Pricy Airfares; Minangkabau Airport Devoid of Passengers

It was estimated that the airfare hike would hurt not only the tourism sector, but also the airlines themselves as well as the micro, small and medium enterprises (UMKM). 

“If you want to raise the airfare, don’t to massively and abruptly because the impact will relatively be not good,” he said. 

However, Arief was upbeat occupancy rate this year would be in the neighborhood of 55 percent or similar to that of last year following increased number of hotels in the country. 

BISNIS