Hotels and villas fully booked for Idul Fitri holidays

Wasti Atmodjo, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali |Thu, 09/17/2009 10:59 PM

Star hotels and luxury villas are likely to gain profits from the Idul Fitri long weekend as occupancy rates reach more than 90 percent, a hotel executive confirmed.

Djinaldi Gosana, executive director of the Bali Hotel Association (BHA), which overviews 100 members of four and five-star hotels in Bali, said that most clientele would check in this weekend (Sept.18) and spend the rest of the long holidays on the island.

“Most hotels especially those located in Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Nusa Dua and Jimbaran resorts are already fully booked,” Gosana said.

Bali had just finished a robust holiday season, including national school holidays and summer holidays, which started ran from June to August.

Despite terrorist attacks in Jakarta’s J.W. Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels last July, Bali’s tourism industry has remained strong. From January to June this year, more than 1 million foreign tourists spent their holidays on the island.

Aloysius Purwa, chairman of the Association of Travel Agencies (ASITA), said that Bali would again host visitors, mostly domestic guests, during the Idul Fitri holidays.