Chow Group Management Limited has awarded the hotel management contract for their Rotorua property to leading travel and lifestyle group, AccorHotels
Currently undergoing an extensive refurbishment from a commercial building to a 130-room hotel, the property, just 500 metres from Lake Rotorua, will carry a 5-star brand and enhance Rotorua’s tourism offering.
“The renovation of the former Zen Building has commenced with architectural plans,” Chow Group Management Limited (CGML) Director John Chow says.
“The next stage is the physical work effort, which is slated to start in July.”
This project has already had a positive effect on the local economy in terms of employment, Chow claims.
“The entire project will create a pipeline of work opportunities from the refurbishment works stage on site, through to providing hospitality roles and ongoing employment.
“I believe the addition of a five star upscale hotel to the Rotorua tourism offering will be received well by local residents and visitors alike.
“Tourism in Rotorua is valued at $772 million per year, with $402 million of that coming from domestic visitors.
“The Rotorua hotel property will be ideally positioned, both in terms of location but also hospitality offering, to take a slice of the 2.2 million visitor nights spent in the destination.”
In selecting AccorHotels, Chow says the group was the “preferred partner” based on several criteria, including sales and global distribution network, customer focus, loyalty programme, and a proven footprint in New Zealand.
The announcement has been welcomed by the Mayor of Rotorua Steve Chadwick says.
“Rotorua is growing and thriving. Our population now exceeds 70,000 and continues to grow and unemployment is dropping.
“It’s important that we continue to build on these positive achievements and projects such as the Chow Group’s new upscale hotel are critical to our success, improving our tourism infrastructure and creating work opportunities.”
The new hotel in Rotorua will complement AccorHotels sister properties, Novotel and ibis Rotorua Lakeside.
The opening is anticipated to be end of 2018/start 2019
