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HOTEL & RESTO BUSINESS ARE GETTING SLUGGISH, THIS RESPONSE OF PHRI

THE Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) stated that the effect of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) and the implementation of restrictions on community activities (PPKM) that have made hotel and restaurant entrepreneurs sluggish is not only felt in Yogyakarta, but almost in every region.

According to the Secretary General of PHRI Maulana Yusran, said this continued to the phenomenon of closing hotels and restaurants, and news that selling hotel buildings in the marketplace.

“We are no longer 2 or 3 months facing PSBB, but have entered the 12 month. Our business activities are very much concerned with mobility and interaction, but during this pandemic the government policy is contradictory, namely limiting the space for movement,” he said.

Furthermore, Maulana said that if the Government policy limits the space for movement, it is not aligned with adequate incentives. The assistance disbursed by the Ministry of Tourism through the Tourism Grant program is deemed not optimal.

“Tourism Grants are actually very helpful, but actually incentives and relief like this cannot only be issued by one sector. The relief provided in the form of property tax is only returned to the Regional Government. Meanwhile, the other heaviest operational burdens are on employees or labor, electricity and gas,” Maulana noted.

Not only that, Maulana also revealed that the heaviest component in operations is local taxes. He said that the absence of targeted incentives and restrictions on movement made many hotel and restaurant businesses unable to comply with PSBB regulations.

He added that this empty chain will also affect the labor force which has to be reduced and again leads to weak consumption. On the other hand, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy emphasized that it has been collaborating with the Ministry of Finance to channel National Economic Recovery (PEN) funds through the Tourism Grant program as an incentive for hotels and restaurants in 2020. The total disbursement has reached IDR2.26 trillion through 101 city governments districts.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Communication Bureau of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Agustini Rahayu said that in distributing the grant, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and the Ministry of Finance was also assisted by the supervision of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Furthermore, the grant funds are distributed to the City/Regency Government, which will then be given to hotels and restaurants that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 101 cities/regencies.

“The grant program has also been carried out in 2020, and in 2021 it is still in the planning stage of proposing a return to the Ministry of Finance,” she concluded. [kontan.co.id/photo traveltextl]