MEET PANCA SARUNGU, BBS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT 2015-2018

Panca Rudolf Sarungu is famous as a successful practitioner and entrepreneur in the hospitality and tourism industry. He has dedicated more than half of his life for the industry. Unquestionably, in 2010, he was appointed President of the Indonesian Travel and Tourism Awards Foundation (ITTA). Now he holds more function since he was appointedChairman of BINUS BUSINESS SCHOOL (BBS) Alumni Association, the college that had ledhim to the way of success, a path he keeps following.

Panca is considered one of numerous influential figures in the tourism and hospitality industries in Indonesia. By means of a foundation he currently leads, ITTA Foundation, Panca organizes regular award ceremonies for practitioners from diverse industries, but related to travel and tourism. The ceremonies are always vivacious and attract people from related industries to win the award as well as gain recognition within this industry.

However, Panca has since long earned a nationwide reputation for his success in building internet-based business, Bulanmadu.com and Rajamice.com. Both business were born out of Panca’s ability to foresee a fair-sized niche market in Indonesian tourism in the middle of the rapidly growing industries, the internet and tourism. Armed with long experience in the hospitality industry, Panca has successfully responded to the needs of Indonesian tourism market.

Bulanmadu.com itself was the first travel service company in Indonesia to provide services for specialized honeymoon or other romantic trips for couples. Meanwhile, Rajamice.com is a professional exhibition organizer that holds frequent exhibitions of travel and tourism in Indonesia. One of them is familiar in the ears of Indonesian traveller, Indonesia Travel and Holiday Fair (ITHF), held regularly since 2009.

Dedicating Himself to Indonesia’s Hospitality Industry

Being a graduate BINUS’ Information System master’s programme, he made his first acquantaince with the hospitality industry when starting a career in one of Jakarta’s apartment-operator chain, The Ascott, in 1995. Following the start, Panca’s career rose as he moved ahead to a number of major hotel-operators chain in Indonesia, ranging from Kempinski, Aryaduta, to Park Lane, which are popular hotels he had visited.  He was also appointed a number of strategic positions in these companies. In the last hotel, Panca was trusted the position of Director of Sales & Marketing, a position of serious responsibility.

Learning from experience, Panca has a keen eye for the evergrowing travel and tourism market needs in Indonesia. Moreover, Panca has a greater vision of helping Indonesia’s tourism industry develop in a sustainable way, encourage Indonesians to be masters of their homeland, until one day Indonesia’s tourist destinations will become known worldwide.

Recompensing for His Alma Mater’s Kindness

Panca admits, what he has achieved did not result solely from his experience. In his view, all of his experience and competence would be meaningless if not collaborated with science. This view encouraged Panca to advance his studies to the master’s level in BBS.

Taking a master’s programme in Information Systems (then part of BBS), Panca intended to develop the competence he has learnt before. With the knowledge learnt in the programme, Bulanmadu.com and Rajamice.com were born from Panca’s safe hands.

Now, after almost 10 years of graduating from college, Panca intends to recompense his alma mater’s kindness for him. His good intention was responded on last month’s Friday (5/6). On the occasion, most of BBS alumni from different batches and study programmes gathered together for a chance of meeting and greeting one another.

The occasion was not only for chit-chat, but also for electing the head of alumni association for the 2015-2018 period. Following a direct election through voting system, Panca R. Sarungu earned the highest votes cast.

“I want the alumni association to be even more solid and be widely known, especially the related industries. Having a high number of alumni, it is about time that the alumni association is beneficial to all of us,” Panca asserted as he was inducted at the alumni gathering.

For Panca, alumni play an important role in the development of the alma mater, BBS. In his opinion, beside providing a network that is advantageous for the professional world, alumni are influential in motivating the alma mater, as well as the younger generations of students who strive for their career in various industries. That way, alumni can contribute, both directly and indirectly, to BBS development for the future. In this case, they also play a role as the “agents” of BINUS.

Additionally, Panca wish to see the alumni association as a talent pool for BINUSIANS. Panca realizes well and believes that the quality and competences of BBS alumni should not be underestimated. This is proven in a list of names that have made a number of achievements in various fields.

“In addition to being a meeting place for alumni, the association also serves a means of facilitating BINUSIANS great potentials,” said Panca when on another occasion.

To achieve his plans, Panca has prepared a series of programme. As a first step, Panca will set up a structure of the association committee. In addition, he will identify BINUS alumni from various regions of Indonesia and even overseas. Practically, he will create work groups for community building, according to the alumni’s respective interests. When identification is completed, these groups are encouraged to be solid by means of meeting programmes.

In the process, Panca will also involve his campus at work. With the help of Student Alumni Global Employability (SAGE) unit, the association will work in collaboration to facilitate BINUS BUSINESS SCHOOL alumni.

Of all the plans he shared, Panca strives hard to achieve his goal because there is one important thing underlying his planned steps in carrying out the new role. He wants to recompense BINUS’ kindness.

“There is not an ambition too big to achieve during my course of taking a role as head of the alumni association. One thing is for sure, I want nothing but to recompense what BINUS has given me beforehand.”

Good luck for the another new role, Panca Rudolf Sarungu! (RAW)