Bay of Plenty Business News April/May 2017

12 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2017
Part of this block on Tauranga’s Durham
Street is one of the sites being considered
for a new hotel and conference centre.
Calls grow for top hotel in Tauranga
Calls for an internationally-branded hotel
and conference centre in Tauranga are
growing louder as Bay of Plenty celebrates
its status as New Zealand’s fastest-growing
region in terms of prosperity.
By VIV POSSELT
Recent Statistics NZ figures
put the Bay’s GDP
growth rate at 7.7 percent,
a figure that topped the
country in the year to March
2016 and put it a respectable
few points ahead of the next
two on the list - Auckland on
6 percent, and Otago at 4.8
percent.
And while the nod to the
Bay’s increase in prosperity
has been welcomed by all,
concerns are mounting that
Tauranga is losing big events
and conferences to other
regions because it doesn’t
have an internationally-branded
hotel and conference centre.
“Not knowing exactly
how many conferences we
are missing out on is one of
the difficulties we are facing
right now,” said Annie Hill,
projects and communications
manager at Priority One, the
Tauranga and Western Bay of
Plenty economic development
organisation.
She said major events now
coming to the area were putting
the city’s facilities under
pressure, and plans for a new
tertiary campus – expected
to be operational by 2020 –
would likely increase the need
for suitable hotel/conference
venue.
Tauranga needs another
four-star hotel and conference
venue, she said, one with
international brand recognition.
“There are huge opportunities
we are missing because we
don’t have that in Tauranga.
The brand is often what drives
conference organisers to select
a venue, preferably one where
their delegates can stay on the
same site. We don’t have a
branded venue like that here.”
At a September 2016 meeting
at which Tauranga City
Council signalled its readiness
to move ahead on its
City Heart plan, council gave
the thumbs up to an ongoing
search for a private developer
to build a new hotel in the city.
Tauranga City Mayor Greg
Brownless, who took over the
mayoralty after that meeting,
has added his voice to those
now keen to move the hotel
project forward.
He said: “This is something
we need here now more
than ever. We have the land
available; there are a couple of
ideal sites. If someone chose
to build it elsewhere, we’d be
open to looking at that too,
and we could possibly support
more than one [hotel development].
“Every few weeks, people
come through my doors with
ideas for developing a hotel.
It’s now just a matter of those
ideas taking shape.”
He said now is a particularly
good time to move that process
forward. The economy
is good, business is buoyant
and Tauranga’s existing hotels
are enjoying high occupancy
rates.
“The idea of another hotel
has been under discussion for
a few years, but the last time it
was on the table we were facing
the global financial crisis
and it all came to a grinding
halt. Now we are in a different
situation. We’re doing well
economically right now … I
think we’re pretty confident
that we can get it underway.”
Two sites are being considered
for the development.
One is at 91 Willow Street,
and the other – favoured by
Mr Brownless - is at the 21-41
Durham Street block, opposite
Baycourt and on the footprint
of the old TV3 site.
“The foundations are
already there. There is an
underground carpark, and
another carpark on top. It is
an ideal site.
“But realistically, this is a
long-term thing for investors.
It will not be a decision taken
quickly.”
Mr Brownless described
the council’s current zoning
requirements as “pretty liberal”
and said he believed that
council would be co-operative
in the event of any potential
developer seeking more flexibility
around issues such as
consents.
Priority One’s Annie Hill
said the difficulty for potential
developers is that with hotels,
no-one received anything back
on their investment until the
first rooms were booked.
“Several potential investors
have done due diligence.
Most are looking at mixed
use – offering office space,
commercial or retail space as
well as hotel accommodation.
They would be looking for an
anchor tenant of sufficient size
to make it a viable option.”
She said local organisations
were working hard together to
develop a year-round events
programme that would bolster
current peak seasonal surges.
Tauranga does need
more accommodation
of a certain standard
for visitors, especially
a branded hotel for
international visitors.
“We are feeling cautiously
optimistic that we are moving
closer to getting the hotel
underway.”
Gillian Houser, business
development manager at Bay
Venues, said the decision to
hold conferences and other
major events in Tauranga was
definitely being impacted by
issues of accommodation and
other limitations around infrastructure
- in particular, airline
access.
“We are bringing conferences
and events into the city,
but there are accommodation
and other restrictions which
have cost us several bookings
this year alone,” she said. “So
yes, we are securing conferences
– some of them bringing
in 400 to 500 delegates. We
have to put those delegates
into a variety of hotels and
then bus them to the conference
venue … and while that
would be the norm in many
centres, it is far from ideal,
particularly when we cannot
offer the quality in accommodation
that we should be.”
She said accommodation
and infrastructure was of paramount
importance to those
seeking to book conferences
or major events.
“Our conference venues
are fit for purpose, but the
difficulty we are facing is in
trying to accommodate the
number of delegates or people
attending events and transporting
them to Tauranga.
“It is also a fact that the
regions are increasingly on the
radar of conference and event
organisers in Australia. If we
don’t prepare for that now,
the risk is we will miss out on
those events in the long term.”
Ms Houser said promoters
of large concerts also looked
closely at accommodation
options and the ease with
which people could travel to a
venue before they considered
firming up on a booking.
Tauranga Chamber of
Commerce chief executive
Stan Gregec echoed the call
for a new hotel development
for the city.
“Tauranga does need more
accommodation of a certain
standard for visitors, especially
a branded hotel for international
visitors.
“There are all sorts of proposals
and ideas that are being
put forward for this.”
Kath Low, head of marketing
with Tourism Bay of
Plenty, said while Tauranga
did offer a range of high end
accommodation and conference
options, and the tourism
spend in the area had
grown 41 percent over the past
five years – 5 percent of the
national average - the lack of
a branded hotel was an issue.
“While Tauranga does have
a variety of accommodation
offerings, not having a known
brand hotel limits our ability
to attract all markets. There
are international markets
that have a predisposition to
book branded hotels, such as
Singapore, India and China.
“Tauranga is one of New
Zealand’s most appealing destinations
in which to holiday,”
she added. “Visitors come
here for leisure, and then try to
create an opportunity to come
back – conferences provide a
good excuse.”
Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said the
time is right for a new hotel development.
Priority One’s Annie Hill says Tauranga is missing out on
major conferences and events because there is currently
no internationally-branded hotel and conference centre.
Gillian Houser from Bay Venues says current restrictions
mean Tauranga may miss out on events long-term.