Hotels, Restaurants Gain Profit as Rupiah Weakens

TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - Chairman Association of Hotels and Restaurants in Indonesia (PHRI), Istijab Danunagoro, said the strengthening of dollar against rupiah has made a positive impact in the hospitality business.  Tourist spends more of their money to shop with rupiah currency.

Nearly all hotels in Yogyakarta has applied the regulation from Bank Indonesia that obliged hotels to use rupiah in every transactions.

Data from PHRI showed the number of foreign tourist arrivals mostly originated from Singapore and Australia, whereas domestic tourist came from Jakarta and Surabaya.

The number of domestic tourist in 2014 have reached 3.3 million people.  Up to the end of this year, domestic tourist is aimed to reach 3.5 million, while foreign tourist in 2014 reached 250,000 people, and is expected to reach 300,000 by the end of 2015.

There are currently 80 starred hotels totaling 8,000 rooms, and 1,100 non-starred hotels with a total of 13,000 rooms in Yogyakarta.

Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed the occupancy rate of hotel rooms in June 2015 has averaged at 57.44 percent.  The number is down compared to May 2015 from 65.90 percent.

However, the strengthening in dollar has an impacted restaurants that imported food materials like cow beef, therefore increasing its operational cost, said Istijab.

SHINTA MAHARANI