THE series of bomb and small arms attacks in Jakarta’s central business district yesterday, including the bombing of a Starbucks café and a police post, has had “no impact” on the nation’s tourism industry, said Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya.
“Everything is back to normal. We have checked and there is no report of cancellations from airlines, hotels and travel companies in Jakarta,” he said.
“Our Crisis Centre had checked with all 14 hotels along Jalan Thamrin-Sudirman. As of 22.00 last night, there was no early check-out reported and all are confident that the situation is back to normal.”
Herry Lukman, member on the board of directors of Sari Pan Pacific Hotel Jakarta, the hotel closest to the incident, confirmed this. “We have received no complaints from guests, no one checked out earlier, let alone an exodus,” he said.
Endah Faeni, owner of Mitradaya Adipratama PCO, who was handling a business meeting at Sari Pan Pacific Hotel Jakarta yesterday, said: “The company had been meeting there since Monday. All 30 participants were evacuated when the attack took place, but the meeting resumed after it was declared safe. Today, they are continuing according to schedule.”
As well, Krishnadi, Indonesia Hotel & Restaurant Association (IHRA) Jakarta Chapter chairman, told TTG Asia e-daily that as of press time, he has not received any cancellation reports from members.
He also added that there were no cancellations for meetings, which is a significant market for hotels in Jakarta, especially for those located along the main business district of Jalan Thamrin-Sudirman.
However, he noted that cafes and restaurants along these streets, where businessmen usually hold business lunches, were quiet.
Vivi Herlambang, corporate director, sales, marketing and business development at Sahid International Hotel, said while meetings continued at Grand Sahid Jaya today, there were a couple of cancellations from the hotel’s Japanese clients.
Meanwhile, Artotel Jakarta reported that a few of its hotel guests have requested to check out earlier.
