Relieving Anxiety with Luxury

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

An announcement regarding the closure of the Ragunan Animal Park (TSR) at the main entrance of TSR in the Ragunan area, Jakarta, Wednesday (30/12/2020).

The Covid-19 pandemic, which has lasted for almost 10 months in the country, has not yet subsided. The "emergency" situation has prompted restrictions on many activities, including during the year-end holidays. The restrictions include the closure of tourist sites and public spaces, curfews, crackdowns for health protocol compliance and restrictions on travel and parties.

Leisure time activities and tourism at the end of the year are also affected. However, despite the restrictions, there are people who opt to take a vacation, while hopefully heeding health advice. They choose to stay at a hotel to enjoy a vacation amid all the restrictions and bans currently in force.

Yedida Rani (36) from Surabaya, East Java, vacationed with her husband and two children in Yogyakarta from 16 to 21 December 2020. In Yogyakarta, they enjoyed holidays at the Marriott, Eastparc and Sheraton hotels. Millions of rupiah were spent to celebrate the birthday of her youngest child.

The pandemic (pagebluk) doesn\'t allow Rani to organize a party for her child. Therefore, the family decided to go on holidays and do the celebration at five-star hotels, while complying with health protocol.

"Before we went for the vacation, I asked [the hotel management] about the health protocol. That\'s why I chose five-star hotels, because health protocol must be prioritized [at those hotels],” he said.

They continued to look for other locations to celebrate New Year\'s Eve.

For New Year\'s Eve, Rani and family are planning a staycation in Surabaya. However, the five-star hotels in the city were already full. They continued to look for other locations to celebrate New Year\'s Eve.

Meanwhile for Puji (39), a resident of Depok, West Java, chose to stay at sanggraloka or a resort for the middle class near Taman Safari Indonesia in Cisarua. The family has been at the resort, 3 kilometers from the main road of Puncak, since Monday (28/12/2020).

"The place is quiet, spacious. Children can run around. The phone signal is weak, so cellular phones can be left behind and children are encouraged to do physical activity," he said.

The fact that more than half of the hotel rooms at the resort are empty is reassuring for Puji: As the number of guests is small, they can keep their distance from others to prevent Covid-19 transmission.

Puji said she chose a vacation because she really needed time off and a different place for a change from daily routine. For 10 months since the pandemic hit Indonesia, the family has been staying at home most of the time. They are very bored and depressed. "It\'s hard to find a quiet place to enjoy in Depok and Jakarta," said Puji.

KOMPAS/COKORDA YUDISTIRA

The Bali Regional Police held raids related to security related to Christmas and New Year 2021 in Bali and the implementation of health protocols during the Covid-19 pandemic.

An employee of Nusa Dua Beach, Bali, Cornelia Napitupulu (26), said that, for a pandemic, lodging, especially luxury accommodation, was quite well occupied during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

In fact, there are regulations requiring visitors to Bali who arrive by airplane to present a negative PCR swab test result. "Consumers chose the five-star hotels, because the rates were cut by up to one half, so it was better for them to stay there rather than at ordinary hotels with rates that are not much different," said Cornelia.

Survived

Santika Indonesia Hotels & Resorts president director Johanes Widjaja said the occupancy of the group’s luxurious facilities Anvaya and Samaya in Bali was quite good toward the end of the year, reaching 50-60 percent. The customers, usually mostly foreign tourists, are now Indonesian tourists.

"Perhaps, these are consumers who usually go on New Year holidays abroad, but because of the epidemic, they go on vacation to luxury places, where prices have also fallen," said Widjaja.

Fairmont Jakarta marketing communications director Felicia Setiawan said the occupancy rate had reached 70 percent at the end of the year. This is quite good, because it is also contributed to by the staycation trend among wealthy people.

At Fairmont, there are no special New Year celebrations. The hotel offers dinner until 7 p.m. "Yet, there were quite a lot of enthusiasts. Perhaps, guests are looking for a different atmosphere to home,” said Felicia.

Grand Sahid Jaya manager Venny Artha said the occupancy for the New Year had reached 60 percent. Here, the manager offers a special gardening activity for children and making hand models of cement for families, as well as honing children\'s logic and watching movies outdoors.

"The activities are light and simple. They are designed not to create crowds of people, and they must end at 7 p.m.," said Venny.

Meanwhile, it is too risky to go abroad, leaving a staycation as a popular option.

According to Hotel Mulia Jakarta director of sales and marketing Rully Rachman, there are not many holiday options for the middle class during the pandemic. Many regions have imposed tight restrictions. Meanwhile, it is too risky to go abroad, leaving a staycation as a popular option.

Rully said the occupancy at Mulia was 50 percent. The hotel offers rooms per night starting from Rp 2.5 million. "We follow health regulations and protocols. We will offer dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.," he said.

Hope

Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said the occupancy of five-star hotels was somewhat better at the end of the year due to the staycation trend. "The agenda is to provide families with a space to gather, because not all facilities are open. Some swimming pools are open and some are closed,” he said.

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

Sterilization activities for restaurants at Hotel Santika Premiere, Bintaro, South Tangerang, Banten, Tuesday (29/12/2020). Towards the turn of the year, the occupancy rate of Hotel Santika Premiere Bintaro only reaches 80 percent.

However, Hariyadi warned, the increase in occupancy did not apply to all hotels. Small hotels were not crowded. The public chose five-star hotels because of the big discounts, convenience and health protocols. "For those who are well off, there will be no financial constraint for going on a vacation. They have money, but their spending is not maximal, because not all services have opened," he said.

Economist Muhamad Chatib Basri noted that the non-food category accounted for the lion’s share of consumer spending by the upper middle class. A World Bank study states that the middle class is the largest consumer of leisure, entertainment, durable goods, homes and cars. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, entertainment and leisure are the most feasible. (RAZ/BRO)

(This article was translated by Kurniawan H. Siswoko)