ER
THE MANDALIKA MotoGP motorcycle racing event is still a long way off. The plan is for MotoGP to take place at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit in March 2022. However, long before the event takes place, hotel rooms in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, have been fully booked.
According to the General Manager of the Holiday Resort Hotel in Malimbu Senggigi, Ktut M Jaya Kusuma said that he no longer displayed the price for his 189-unit hotel rooms because all of them had already been booked. We apply the highest best available rate price.
Jaya Kusuma, who is also the Chair of the Senggigi Hotels Association and the Chair of the Association of Hospitality Leaders Indonesia (AHLI) NTB, explained that the high room rates in a certain period are very reasonable because they follow supply and demand factors. Therefore, according to him, let the market mechanism decide.
The issue of hotel rates, which depend on the law of supply and demand, Jaya Kusuma continued, does not only happen in Lombok. He gave an example, hotel rates in Sepang, Malaysia, when the race will take place also experience the same thing. In the circular zone of the Sepang Circuit, for example, hotel rates have increased two to three times.
Every hotel manager, Jaya Kusuma said, already has a strategy in determining the price and value they offer. “The market segment for each hotel, inn or any accommodation also varies greatly and customers can choose the services they need,” he said.
The chairman of the Mataram Hotel Association, NTB, Yono Sulistyo who is also the General Manager of Fave Hotel, said the same thing regarding the reservation of 2,758 hotel rooms in Mataram. “I noticed it was full too,” he said. The hotel room rate, which was originally IDR500 thousand, has increased to IDR800 thousand.
The demand for hotel rooms that exceeds the number of rooms available results in a significant increase in rates. “When the hotel rooms are fully booked, it means that the price we offer is still acceptable to the market,” said Yono. “In the MotoGP agenda, the buying power or the power of people to buy is very strong.”
The chairman of the Indonesia Hotel General Manager Association (IHGMA), Ernanda Dewobroto Agung, said that the full hotel rooms in the Mandalika, Senggigi, and Mataram areas would encourage hotel managers around the area to share their blessings. For example, hotels in Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air, which were empty of guests during the World Superbike event in November 2021, can get customers during the Mandalika MotoGP later, even though the hotel is quite far from the event venue.
Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit is located in Central Lombok Regency, while Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air tourist destinations are in North Lombok Regency. The travel time to these two places is about two to three hours by car. “So, hotels in North Lombok Regency will also feel the benefits of the Mandalika MotoGP later,” said Ernanda.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Gili Hotel Association, Lalu Kusnawan, who is also the General Manager of Wilson Retreat on Gili Trawangan, is already preparing to make a tour package. Guests can stay overnight, get transportation services, and do interesting tourist activities. In North Lombok Regency, there are a total of 9,000 hotel rooms spread from Gili to Senaru at the foot of Mount Rinjani.
Likewise, the Head of the NTB Tourism Office, Yusron Hadi, said that hotel room rates for the Mandalika MotoGP audience must pay attention to the principle of benefit in an effort to restore the community’s economy. “Don’t let this effort weaken the other side,” he said.
Most of the Mandalika MotoGP tourists, according to reports from hotel managers, had reservations for a week when the MotoGP took place in March 2022. [tempo.co/photo special]
