Santika Indonesia Hotels and Resorts is planning to open more hotels in third-tier destinations to spur deeper tourism flow into the country.
Santika Lahat in South Sumatera, Santika Premiere Lampung City, and Santika Linggarjati, Cirebon West Java are targeted to open between May and August this year, while Santika Blitar in East Java and Santika Cibadak West Java will welcome first guests around the end of 2023.
Sudarsana, general manager business development of Santika Indonesia Hotels and Resorts, told TTG Asia that experience have shown that the right accommodation supply in lesser-known destinations can create travel demand.
Citing Garut in West Java as an example, Sudarsana said tourism potential there used to be stifled by the lack of properly developed and managed hotels.
“As soon as we opened our hotel (Hotel Santika Garut), business came to us,” he remarked.
Similarly, Gunung Kidul Regency in the southern part of Yogyakarta boasts new tourist attractions, but accommodation is lacking.
“Travellers to Yogyakarta stay in town and take (an hour or so) to get to the attractions. The opening of (Hotel Santika Gunungkidul-Jogja) has not only attracted leisure travellers (to the destination), but also business events as we have sizeable ballrooms there,” he said.
Meanwhile, the group continues to expand its portfolio in developed and popular cities, such as Jakarta and Bandung. Amaris Kalimalang in Jakarta and Santika Pasir Kali in Bandung are scheduled to launch this March.
These 2023 openings will inject an additional 1,500 rooms to Santika’s current inventory of 17,000 keys across 112 hotels in Indonesia.
