Indonesia Conference Directory

This research embarks from the authors experience and public grievance on costly food and beverage sold by food and beverage outlets in Kalimantan Major (KM) Airport. Even for urbanites, price offered by the outlets is noticeably expensive than those sold in the down-town outlets, moreover for countryside people, the price is not really friendly. The research aims to know and understand the rationale of rent cost determination suspected to the main contributor of food and beverage being expensive. Qualitative approach is employed to understand this case more clearly with case study research strategy. On-site observation revealed that most tenants won the bidding of food and beverage outlets are established entrepreneurs that have strategic information on business prospects in KM Airport, chain business entities that have nationally and internationally network. It is hardly found ordinary entrepreneurs being tenants of food and beverage outlets because of the high cost rent offered. Not surprisingly, the tenants then push the high cost on customers. These circumstances have caused KM Airport, owned by state, seems loses its direction to maintain the equilibrium between the public-service entity and profit-oriented entity, for example the absence of drinking fountain has forced the airport users to buy water in the outlet that the price is double. KM Airport also has not set structure or percentage of the tenants, from categories: micro / small, established, national chain and international chain entities. Without affirmative policy, it is hardly to find a balanced model of business that is profit driven, while at the same time has strong commitment to serve its customers with public service standards and affordable prices of food and beverage. The contribution of this study is to offer a balanced model of business in the context of airports operated in developing countries where its users come from multiple strata.