New Zealand Targets Meetings And Incentives Market

<I>Auckland</I> - A host of new hotels in Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown and a new convention center coming up in Christchurch mean that New Zealand is more determined than ever to increase its share of the meetings and incentives market, a segment that has been steadily growing.

Indeed, international visitor arrivals for conferences and conventions already have risen 10.7 percent in 1996 over 1995.

Christchurch, the country's third largest city, has been particularly aggressive in pursuing the market and now has two new hotels eager to attract more incentive groups. The Heritage Christchurch, which opened in late November, combines one of this historic city's most significant historic buildings with a tower wing to create a 191-room and suite hotel.

The Dynasty Pacific Group has created The Heritage Suites from the Old Government Building. The 43-suite property is located on the eastern side of Christchurch's Cathedral Square and is said to be the finest example of Italianate Renaissance Palazzo architecture in New Zealand. The rooms have been decorated in rich colors and textures in keeping with the building's heritage. They each have a full kitchen with a microwave and a dishwasher, a lounge and a dining room. The Heritage Tower's 137 rooms and suites have a more contemporary design. Facilities include a lap pool, a sauna and a gymnasium in the basement of The Heritage Suites, an area once used as a test firing range. Meeting facilities include 427-square-foot, 115-square-foot and 161-square-foot meeting rooms and a boardroom.

The Millennium Christchurch, another hotel which caters to both individual business travelers and corporate groups, opened early last year and is one of CDL Hotel Group's three New Zealand Millennium properties-the others are in Queenstown and Rotorua. Also located on Cathedral Square, the hotel has 179 rooms, each with personalized voicemail, an in-room safe, an ironing board, an electric blanket and a spa bath. Facilities include a business center, a gym, a sauna and a restaurant whose chef was voted "1996 New Zealand Chef of the Year." Conference facilities, which consist of a meeting room, two boardrooms and a lounge, can cater for up to 200 delegates.

While these new hotels will be concentrating on attracting the incentive business, Christchurch also is busy pursuing conventions and has appointed a Salt Lake City-based representative, Christchurch Conventions, to market the city in the United States.

"Christchurch is targeting corporate meetings, incentives and association meetings of 5,000 delegates or less," said LaMar Williams, director of sales and marketing, North America for Christchurch Conventions. "The city has really pushed itself as a convention center in recent years and has outpaced Auckland in terms of number of conventions."

The Christchurch Convention Center, which opened March 16, includes a 20,075-square-foot convention and exhibition hall, three smaller halls totaling 6,684 square feet, an auditorium seating 2,584, a theater seating 1,006, and three smaller rooms seating 150, 250 and 550 delegates, respectively.

In Queenstown, the options have been enhanced by one new hotel and another on the way. The Heritage Queenstown, a 178-room hotel on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, opened Nov. 21. The property has been designed to be an alpine lodge, with a central lodge building and three accommodation wings. The property includes standard hotel rooms, as well as one-, two- and three-bedrooms suites, each including a kitchen with microwave and dishwasher, a lounge and a dining room. Facilities include a gym, an indoor/outdoor swimming pool and a sauna.

For meetings, there are two function rooms, one measuring 322 square feet and seating 90 theater style or 70 for sit-down dinners, and another measuring 95 square feet and seating 20 theater style and 20 for sit-down dinners.

Meanwhile, Accor Asia Pacific took over management of the former 150-room Holiday Inn Queenstown, renaming it the Novotel Queenstown Feb. 12. Accor also will manage the Novotel Suites Queenstown, currently under construction and scheduled to be completed early next year. The new apartment-style hotel, overlooking Queenstown Bay, offers 83 apartments, ranging from studios to two-level penthouses. The two-bedroom apartments can be divided into separate studio and one-bedroom units, thus expanding the hotel's room count to 135 during high season.

Another new hotel is the 220-room Millennium Queenstown, which opened at the end of 1995. Among the hotel's facilities are a gym, a sauna and a spa and conference facilities that include a ballroom accommodating 600 people theater style and 430 for banquets.

Not to be left behind, Auckland also is adding new hotels. The city's newest property, Harrah's Sky City Hotel, opened late last year. The hotel is New Zealand's second largest with 306 rooms and 38 suites. Facilities include a fitness center, rooftop swimming pool and business center. The Sky City complex, which also includes Harrah's Sky City Casino, will be finished this summer, when the 328-meter Sky Tower is completed.

Dynasty Pacific, operator of the Heritage hotels, will manage two properties in New Zealand's largest city. City Life will open on Queen Street in the heart of downtown Auckland in mid-July. The 253 apartment-style guest rooms include studios; suites with one, two and three bedrooms and full kitchens, and penthouses. Facilities include a gym, business center, indoor swimming pool and conference rooms.

Another Dynasty Pacific property, The Heritage Auckland, is expected to open in December. Like CityLife, the hotel's 269 suites will include studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom suites; and penthouses. Facilities will include a business center, conference rooms and recreational amenities.

Meanwhile, Stamford Hotels and Resorts last year took over the former Regent of Auckland and presently is refurbishing the property. So far, two new meeting rooms and a boardroom have been created from what was once office space. There also are plans for a new ballroom.

An offshore addition to the city's wide variety of venue options came in early November, when Cruising Auckland began operating harbor cruises on board Tiger 14, an 82-foot, high-speed, luxury cruising catamaran. The catamaran carries up to 140 passengers for cocktail receptions and 102 people on two levels-80 people in the main lounge and 22 in the captain's lounge-for seafood buffet cruises. Charter packages are available for corporate groups.

In Rotorua, a popular overnight destination for incentive groups, CDL Hotels recently opened the Millennium Rotorua, taking over what was, until 1991, the Hyatt Kingsgate and since then the Quality Resort Lake Rotorua. The 227-room property includes a swimming pool, a gym and a sauna, as well as five conference rooms, accommodating between 30 and 150 delegates each and a ballroom seating up to 400 theater style or 200 for banquets.