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CHAIRMAN of the Association Travel Companies of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), or ASITA NTB, Dewantoro Umbu Joka was surprised to hear that hotel room prices had soared ahead of the Mandalika MotoGP on March 18-20, 2022.
Initially, most of the standard room prices were in the range of less than IDR1 million. The room price is IDR2-3 million if it is equipped with a private swimming pool. However, ahead of the Mandalika MotoGP, Umbu Joka said the room price had increased many times.
“I don’t want the room price to be expensive so that the prospective Mandalika MotoGP audience chooses a hotel in Bali or other accommodation,” said Umbu Joka. According to him, it is only right that room prices go up because high demand is not proportional to room availability.
However, Umbu Joka continued, if the price increase was too late, the prospective Mandalika MotoGP audience would choose other accommodations. If the potential audience chooses accommodation in another area, then we are the losers. The high price of the room has become an uncomfortable discussion throughout Indonesia.
Meanwhile the chairman of the NTB Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI NTB), Ni Ketut Wolini, said the increase in room prices ahead of the Mandalika MotoGP was the same as conditions in Malaysia during the Sepang Circuit race. At that time, all hotel room rates went up. “If it is considered unreasonable, it is not natural because there is a third party who makes the price rise again,” Wolini said.
Ketut Wolini explained that room prices became more expensive because guests wanted additional services which were then included in the room price variable. For example, in addition to booking a room, guests want to get a shuttle service from and to the airport or the destination they want to go to. Some even asked for tickets for the Mandalika MotoGP.
According to PHRI NTB data shows that the number of hotel rooms in Lombok is 17,708 units and on the island of Sumbawa 2,407 units. If the Mandalika MotoGP ticket sales reach 100 thousand pieces, it means that there will be a shortage of rooms.
Likewise, the chairman of the Mataram Hotel Association, Yono Sulistyo, said that I often received complaints about the high demand for hotel rooms for the Mandalika MotoGP audience. Most hotels in Mataram City sell rooms at a public rate.
Also, the chairman of the Indonesia Hotel General Manager Association of NTB, Ernanda Dewobroto Agung, said that what was happening now was a market mechanism. Prices are always directly proportional to demand. It is inevitable because demand is high and room availability is limited.
Ernanda invited to find a solution to increase the availability of rooms for the Mandalika MotoGP audience. How, for example, by utilizing small hotels in the Mataram area, which are numerous. Can also offer hotels in Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. “Also think about how to access transportation so they can come to Mandalika without any problems,” he said.
The chairman of the Senggigi Hotel Association, I Ketut Murta Jaya Kusuma who is also the General Manager of the Holiday Resort Hotel, said that there was no problem with room rates for the Mandalika MotoGP audience. “Expensive but sold out, it’s good,” he said. “The problem is if it’s expensive then it doesn’t sell. Because the benchmark for whether or not a room is expensive can vary, depending on who buys it.”
General Manager of Merumatta Senggigi Hotel, Abdul Aziz said, most hotel managers raised room prices ahead of the Mandalika MotoGP. According to him, this is part of their respective marketing strategies.
“So, it’s strange if the price of hotel rooms doesn’t go up, while the results of observations in the field, travel agents or brokers have sold rooms above the initial price,” he said. “All lines have raised prices, from transportation, hotels, homestays, to boarding houses.”
Likewise, economics lecturer at the University of Mataram, M Firmansyah is concerned about the implications of the increase in room prices in the Mandalika MotoGP event for the short and long term. “When there is a substitution, a new rationality of consumer behavior will emerge. Don’t harm local NTB entrepreneurs,” he concluded. [tempo.co/photo special]
