Accommodation

Hilton Taupo expects revenue to recover to pre-pandemic levels by year-end.

Tasman Tourism has appointed Nikki Fisher to chief executive to help guide the Australian-based operator’s expansion both at home and in New Zealand.

The resort’s hotels appeared to get a boost from the start of school holidays.

Hotel guest nights beat holiday parks and campgrounds for the first time in several months.

Boutique accommodation provider SkyScape has opened its first fully accessible luxury ‘mountain huts’ in the Mackenzie region.

Russell-Orongo Bay Holiday Park is providing childcare support and education programmes in an effort to diversify.

A development aiming to be Wānaka’s first dedicated workers’ accommodation village has secured consent from the Environment Court.

Australians are ready to jump the ditch to visit New Zealand with a record number looking for accommodation, says Booking.com.

Queenstown hotels have been particularly battered in the last 12 months.

The operator will no longer put its Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier into hibernation.

Electronic card transaction spending for March in the hospitality sector jumped 26.1% to $1.04bn compared to the same month in 2020, according to Stats NZ.

People may think we’re “making a killing” from MIQ but we’re cut off from our iso-hotels, says the hotelier.

Braeburn Apartments, a category 2 Heritage New Zealand listing, with existing tenants is up for sale.

The latest case follows a cleaner and security guard getting infected at the MIQ facility.

The Govt is proposing industry picks up more of the bill for freedom camping enforcement.

But not all MIQ workers are getting the jab with an unvaccinated security guard at the Grand Millennium Auckland testing positive.

Airbnb saw a surge in New Zealand and Australian bookings in the lead up to the trans-Tasman travel bubble announcement on Tuesday.

The value of building consents issued for hotels, motels and other short term accommodation in February 2021 was $57m, up 46% for the same month in 2020, according to Stats NZ.

Enough quality service – or perhaps any kind of service at all – might be hard to find in some tourist destinations.

A landmark Hamilton block including the four-star VR Hamilton hotel is up for sale.

The 150-year-old Totara Estate Homestead is for sale with potential for boutique accommodation, hospitality or events, says real estate agent Colliers International.

New hostel portfolio owner Wolf Herwegh Vonk on his $30m deal with YHA.

Around 250 returnees who have left the Grand Mercure have been told to self-isolate.

Manawatū was the top performer for the month seeing occupancy rise to 60%.

Govt will end up footing the unemployment bill if workers in the hard-hit youth sector lose jobs, says BYATA’s new chair.

The event has helped hotels close to Auckland’s Viaduct but its effect has been limited.

Trampers to Waikato’s Pahautea Hut in Pirongia Forest Park are now asked to book their stay via DOC’s online booking system.

Hotel Council Aotearoa is calling for Auckland Council to get rid of its Accommodation Provider Targeted Rate as the sector struggles to recover from the pandemic.

Sale and leaseback offers a way to unlock capital for accommodation operators but deals remain rare.

The lack of tourists and Auckland’s lockdowns led to a “whopping” fall in card expenditure, says ASB.

The four hotels will be mothballed for 12-18 months, says the operator.

One of the country’s most acquisitive hotel investors will bring the Canterbury resort into its luxury portfolio.

MBIE says it believes all 32 hotels being used will renew their MIQ contracts, which currently come to an end in April.

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand expects a difficult year ahead with conditions largely “outside of our control”, says BK Chiu.

The value of building consents issued for hotels, motels and other short term accommodation in January 2021 was $9m, down 25% for the same month in 2019, according to Stats NZ.

Napier’s Scenic Te Pania Hotel has reopened after flooding last year caused extensive damage to the building.

Campgrounds helped drive occupancy up across the country, according to the Accommodation Data Programme.

Blenheim-based Diamond Hostel Limited has gone into liquidation.

Spending on accommodation in the December 2020 quarter fell to $967.91m, down 18% compared to the corresponding period a year earlier.

How did the river city, traditionally overlooked by visitors, top RTO area spend in 2020?

Nightsky Cottage, part of Tongariro Suites in Ruapehu, has become the first 5-star accommodation in Ruapehu to receive Qualmark’s Gold Sustainable Tourism Business Award.

A “horrid” year saw average hotel occupancy across the group plummet to 39%.

A petition has been launched to get rid of Auckland Council’s Accommodation Providers’ Targeted Rate

A Christmas bump saw Hawke’s Bay regional tourism organisation area top occupancy across all accommodation types in December, knocking Wellington from the top of the table.

YHA sells five hostels in what it says is a reflection of the distressed nature of the tourism industry.

Card sales for accommodation services were down $81m, or 29%, compared with January 2020.

New hotel Atura Wellington has officially opened in the capital. 

The current contracts end in April and at least one major provider wants more certainty.

The agent pointed to Govt work and the rebound in domestic demand for 2020’s performance.

New Zealand’s hospitality sector could look to South Australia’s voucher system to boost the economy, says the South Australian Tourism Commission.