Hotels, Restaurants Struggling to Cope with Coronavirus Blow
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6 March 2020 16:05 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The coronavirus outbreak is hitting the world's economy. The tourism sector is among the first industries to suffer the consequences, including hotels and restaurant businesses.
Maulana Yusran, secretary-general of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI), said that hotels are seeing a decline in occupancy rate. Across Indonesia, some 6,000 hotels have reported a roughly 50 percent decline in reservations since the start of 2020.
Maulana said entrepreneurs initially still had some kind of optimism; believing they could rely on domestic travels, which saw 270 million travelers last year. However, after the virus reached Indonesia, even locals are responding and canceling their trips. Over the last three days, the number of booking cancellations jumped.
As of February, hotel occupancy at Chinese tourists' favorite destinations such as Bali, Batam, Bintan and Manado, fell by around 30 to 40 percent.
"Now, we are also seeing a decline in occupancy in other areas, including Jakarta," Maulana said.
Additionally, the Jakarta government has suspended a number of permits for crowd-gathering events such as music concerts, of which many were supposed to be held in the capital city this month.
GANGSAR PARIKESIT | CAESAR AKBAR | VINDRY FLORENTIN
