Hotels' Occupancy Rate Up During Jakarta Int'l Marathon

By Azi Fitriyanti Jakarta (Antara) - Hotels' occupancy rate increased at the weekend during the Jakarta International Marathon 2013, an official said. Head of the Jakarta Provincial Tourism and Cultural Office Arie Budiman said here on Sunday that the hotels' occupancy rate in the capital rose 15 percent compared with usual weekends. "The hotel occupancy rate at this weekend reached 90 percent, meaning that hotels particularly those at Jenderal Sudirman and MH Thamrin streets were almost fully booked," he said. Budiman noted that the Jakarta International Marathon which is the first of its kind had a positive impact on the tourism sector as many domestic and foreign runners came to the city to participate in the event. "We will evaluate this first event and hopefully, the next events will be better," he added. The Jakarta International Marathon has been certified A Grade with elevation route 0 m/km by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) for five years. "But we are still waiting for the result of track-clear evaluation, which required no one but runners are on the marathon track. Hopefully, it will run smoothly," Budiman said. The Jakarta Marathon 2013 offered a total prize of Rp2.5 billion and was participated in by more than ten thousand runners from all over the world, including world elite runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, and Australia. The winners of the male full marathon (42.195 kilometers) category are dominated by Kenyan runners, namely William Chebor with 2:14:30, Stephen Tum with 2:15:35 and Chelimo Kipkemoi with 2:17:06. Ethiopian runner Mulu Seyfu won the first position with 2:42:57, followed by Kenyan runners Diana Sigei with 2:43:39 and Mercy Jelimo Foo with 2:44:18. Besides full marathon category, Jakarta Marathon 2013 was also divided into half marathon (21 kilometers), 10K, 5K, and Maratoonz for kids aged below ten years. (*)