JAKARTA - The Association of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI) in West Java hopes that the plan to provide incentives from the Bandung City Government to hotels with three and below stars will be better directed directly to employees.The chairman of the West Java Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Dodi Ahmad Sofiandi, in Bandung, assessed that this step could be a breath of fresh air for the hotel industry, which is currently slumping, but it is also necessary to explain the mechanisms and details of the distribution of the incentives to be given."If there is a policy like that and directly for employees, of course it will be very useful for them, because many hotel employees are now forced to be laid off, have reduced working hours, or their contracts have not been extended. But at this time we are still waiting for clarity from the Bandung City Government," said Dodi, quoted by Antara, Saturday, June 21.However, he continued, if the incentives were aimed more at supporting hotel operations, Dodi suggested that the government should focus on reducing tax burdens, such as sales tax, building taxes, and development taxes."If it's not for employees directly, I think it's better if there are tax cuts, such as the PBB or sales tax. It will help hotels survive in difficult situations like now," he said.However, Dodi supports the steps taken by the City Government to prioritize assistance for small hotels, such as the lower three stars to jasmine hotels considering that this hotel category is the most affected, with a wave of employee reductions and operational efficiency."Many hotels are forced to rotate their employees, some work week one week off, so that there are no layoffs. This is a tough step that must be taken in order to maintain business continuity," he said.In addition to fiscal incentives, Dodi hopes that local governments can also encourage increased hotel occupancy by holding various activities that attract tourists to stay, such as music, sports, and various festivals, at least once every two weeks. BACA JUGA: "Pak Farhan once said that there will be routine events once a month or twice a week. This is also important to boost hotel occupancy, which is currently still low on average," said Dodi.Previously, the Mayor of Bandung Muhammad Farhan said he would provide incentives for three-star hotels and below, as part of government support for the hotel industry.This step is also in line with the policy of the Ministry of Home Affairs which now allows local governments to hold meetings at three-star hotels and below, in order to revive the economy of the tourism sector. The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)