Padang, W. Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Hotel and restaurant taxes collected in West Sumatra in 2010 amounted to Rp19 billion, said Yanti Sukamdani, chief of the Indonesia hotels and restaurants association or PHRI.

"The tourism sector in the future should become an industry, so that it can contribute to the regional economic development," Yanti Sukamdani, the PHRI general chairperson said here on Thursday at the opening of the West Sumatra PHRI regional conference. One US dollar is about rp8,570.

Yanti expressed hope that the taxes earned from hotels and restaurants in West Sumatra can be raised in the future, adding that the Rp19 billion tax revenue was obtained from 95 hotels and a number of restaurants.

Along with the PHRI regional conference, the conference organizing committee also conducted a seminar featuring three speakers namely the Culture and Tourism Ministry`s director general of marketing Sapta Nirwandar, the PHRI general chairperson Yanti Sukamdani and the PHRI advisor Aim Zein.

Yanti Sukamdani believed that West Sumatra has potentials to develop its tourism sector which is supported by its natural beauty.

Therefore, she hoped the provincial government could ease the infrastructure development including the establishment of hotels and restaurants.

In the meantime, West Sumatra governor Irwan Prayitno on the occasion among others expressed the provincial government`s readiness

to make synergy with tourism players in building and developing the tourism potential in the future.

West Sumatra has just carried out a week-long Tour de Singkarak featuring foreign and domestic cyclists which ended on Sunday (June 12, 2011) with Iranian cyclist dominated the annual cycling competition.

(SYS/B003/O001)

Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011