Jakarta (13/07) – Indonesia’s hospitality service company, PT. Intiwhiz International, continues to expand its business with Intiwhiz hotel chain in Bali. After opening Whiz Hotel in Kuta and Nusa Dua, the company is set to add another Whiz Hotel in Sanur.
The company, which a subsidiary of Indonesia’s property developer, PT Intiland Development Tbk, is developing Whiz Hotel Sanur, cooperating with Hardy’s group, a business group in Bali with a number of types of industries under its belt. The signing of the cooperation for developing Whiz Hotel Sanur was done by Moedjianto Soesilo Tjahjono, President and chief executive officer of PT Intiwhiz International, and Hismad Abubakar, Director of PT Hardy’s Global Investindo, in Jakarta, 13 July 2012.
The development of Whiz Hotel Sanur will start in the beginning of Q4/2012. The company estimates it will take about one year to finish the development, and the company has set a target of Q4/2013 for the hotel to start operating.
“We are happy to be able to work together with Hardy’s Group to present our hotel in Sanur. We hope that the cooperation will go beyond the development of the hotel, and that it can continue with the development of other hotels in other locations around Bali, or even in the cities in Indonesia,” Moedjianto said.
With the cooperation, Hardy’s will be responsible for the development of the hotel, and Intiwhiz will act as the hotel’s operator. The choice of location in Sanur for expanding Intiwhiz’s hotel chain is due to the fact that Sanur is one of the four main tourism spots in Bali, aside from Kuta, Ubud, and Nusa Dua.
Whiz Hotel Sanur is to be the third hotel from Intiwhiz located in Bali. Set to occupy an area of 1,000 square meters, the hotel will have five floors and 95 rooms. There will be two types of rooms available: standard twin and standard double.
“Whiz Hotel belongs to a relatively new segment and has a big potential for rapidly developing in Sanur. The hotels which are located in Sanur area are dominated by four-star hotels, resorts and non-star hotels. We are entering a segment which at the moment is still empty, offering the concept of smart hotel with the room rates ranging between IDR 350 thousand and IDR 400 thousand per night,” Moedjianto added.
Rapid Growth
Despite a stiff competition in hospitality business in Bali, the management of Intiwhiz remains optimistic that Whiz Hotel Sanur will be one of the favorites for travelers who want to stay in Sanur area. The company targets not only domestic tourists, but also foreign tourists vacationing in Bali.
The big potential is evident in the growing number of foreign tourists coming into Bali. Within the first five months of 2012, the number of foreign tourists coming to Bali has reached 1.15 million people, an increase of 9.31 percent from the same period in 2011. The local government of Bali has set a target of above three million tourists for the year 2012 and expects that the number will reach five million tourists by 2015.
The positive trend is also evident in the number of airplane passengers. Data from Central Bureau of Statistics of Bali Province shows that in the period of January-April 2012, the number of passengers in Ngurah Rai International airport reached 2.1 million people, an increase of 16.7 percent from the same period in 2011. Out of the number, oversea passengers constituted 1.0 million people, and domestic passengers constituted 1.1 million people.
The management of Intiwhiz is confident that the market for hotels in Bali, especially that in Sanur area, is still very prospective. The management believes that the timing for the development of the hotel is perfect, with the upcoming international events ready to hit the island province in 2013, including Asia Pacific Economic Corporation international conference.
The company’s Operation Director, Ndang Mulyadi, said that the location for the hotel is highly strategic: On Jalan Danau Tamblingan, which is a main thoroughfare in Sanur area. The hotel is located near a commercial area and Hardy’s Supermarket, and also near entertainment hub in Sanur.
Everyday around 3,000 people visit the supermarket and on weekends, the number may jump to 9,000 people. Besides supermarket, in the location there is also a culinary center which attracts many foreign tourists.
He added that Whiz Hotel Sanur lead in terms of location, quality of services and concept on offer. The hotel is highly accessible as it is located at the center of Sanur tourism area, and it takes only one-hour drive to reach it from Ngurah Rai airport.
“Whiz Hotel Sanur carries the concept of compact, fresh, and clean hotel, with affordable room rates. We give more than what our guests pay for and need for an affordable hotel facilities,” he went on to say.
Unlike other Whiz Hotel in different cities which target business segment, Whiz Hotel Sanur targets tourists, with the composition of 80 percent foreign tourists and 20 percent domestic tourists, with the occupancy rate for the first year to reach 60 percent.
The management of Intiwhiz is optimistic that they will be able to achieve the target. They base their optimism on the fact that there has been a shift in the trend for favorite tourist destination, from Kuta and Legian areas, which are getting more crowded and whose traffic continues to worsen, to Sanur area.
“At present, Sanur is not only the favorite among foreign tourists, especially Europeans, but also the choice of domestic tourists. The occupancy rate of starred hotels in Sanur reaches an approximate of 60 percent, and the rate would increase significantly during the holiday season,” Ndang explained.
Along with the strategy of massive development, the company also continues to expand Whiz Hotel chain in a number of cities in Indonesia. The expansion strategy is done by employing several schemes, such as strategic partnership with landowners, build-operate-transfer (BOT), or with Intiwhiz acting as hotel management operator.
The company is committed to present Whiz Hotel chain in various cities across the country. Besides the ones in Yogyakarta, Semarang, and in Bali Island, Intiwhiz hotel chain will be available in more big cities in Indonesia, among others in Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, Medan, Pekanbaru, Balikpapan, Makassar, Surabaya, Malang, Palangkaraya and Manado. ***