Bintan resorts seek competitive edge

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam

Luxury resorts in the Lagoi International Tourist Area (KPIL) on Bintan Island in the Riau Islands province are looking to lower their costs to remain competitive.

Bintan Lagoon Resort (BLR), one of the largest resorts in the area, recently built a new boarding house for its employees to save money.

BLR public relations manager Tia Ayesa told The Jakarta Post recently the decision to build the new boarding house outside the KPIL area was made to save on monthly overheads.

Previously the resort leased five dormitory complexes operated by Bintan Resort Cakrawala (BRC), which also manages the KPIL, to accommodate its 750 employees.

However, due to rising costs the resort decided renting the dormitories was no longer financially viable.

"All of our employees moved to the new facility at the end of October last year when our dormitory was completed," Tia said via telephone from Batam.

The dormitory is located in the village of Sungai Kecil, which is quite far from the resort. However, despite the extra distance employees have to be transported each day, Tia said the company was still able to significantly cut down on costs.

"The cost of putting up employees in the KPIL area is far too high. We had to find ways to cut costs," said Tia.

She said another resort in the area was building its own boarding facility for the same reason.

KPIL, an integrated tourist zone established by the Indonesian and Singaporean governments, has been operating since 1996.

There are five resorts with five-star ratings in the area, which spans 23,000 hectares over three districts.

Infrastructure in the area, including roads, water, electricity and housing, is the responsibility of the BRC.

Based on data from the Riau Islands Tourism and Culture Office, some 30,000 foreign visitors holiday in the area monthly. Most of these people are Singaporeans.

Many domestic visitors view the area as being too exclusive and more expensive than other tourist destinations in the country.

BRC public relations manager Nia Firtica said it was the right of each resort to decide whether or not to provide housing outside the complex for their employees.

"The quality of boarding facilities in the area is better than those outside the area. However, if resort operators wish to relocate their employees outside the area, we cannot prevent them from doing so," Nia said.

Nia said it was inaccurate for operators to say the costs they had to pay to the BRC were no longer feasible. She said the costs set by her company were fair for the services and facilities provided.

Nia said only one of the five resort operators in the area had relocated its employees.