Forbes Indonesia - July 2017

The business of luxury is anything but luxurious. It’s a rough place of increasing competition, demanding customers and multiple regulations. Yet luxury is a fast-growing and important segment of the Indonesian economy. While it may be only a small fraction of the overall retail market, it has a vital role to play in shaping consumer behav- iour. For one, it sets a high standard for goods and services against which others can benchmark themselves. It also creates employment, for highly trained staff, who must provide the best in goods and services to their cli- ents. Thus the Indonesian economy benefits from having more staff with world-class expertise, that can be used elsewhere to improve standards. Similarly, luxury companies must also buy the best in equipment and services, generating even more demand for highly trained personnel and high-end goods. Luxury companies also create many ordinary jobs, such as for security guards and accountants.
Another critical aspect of Indonesia’s luxury market is its size. As South- east Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia is already making its presence felt in many luxury companies, as all classes of society becoming richer. Therefore demand keeps shifting in favor of higher quality, as it become more afford- able to larger numbers. As many note inside this issue, Indonesian luxury consumers can be both highly passionate and knowledgeable—they may be demanding and discriminating, but they also appreciate it when they can re- ceive the best, the rarest or the most expensive.
Luxury can also play a role in helping preserve culture and promoting lo- cal tourism, as shown by the emerging Plataran brand, which is pioneering new tourist destinations such as Labuan Bajo and Mount Bromo. Plataran is also renovating classic buildings, such as its newly opened Plataran Menteng, adding a historical gem to the vibrant fine dining scene in Jakarta.