Samantha Motion: High stakes hotels and a tale of two towns

The Pullman hotel opened in Rotorua this week. Photo / Stephen Parker

COMMENT

Big spenders welcome.

That's the sign Rotorua just posted at its gateway with the opening of its first international five-star hotel.

The Pullman opened at long last this week in a refurbished office building, ready to serve the luxury-loving travel set from here and abroad - anyone willing to pay upwards of $349 a night to stay in one of New Zealand's tourism hotspots.

The "big spenders", as Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard described them.

Rotorua has earned them. It's found a way to enhance and commercialise and share with the world both the things that make it special - geothermal and other natural assets - and also its relatively average fare made extraordinary through innovation.

Somehow I can't see the Pullman going the way of so many other Rotorua accommodation providers and serving a primarily government-funded clientele of people struggling to find or afford a rental home.

But that's a different story.

This is a story about how a district of about 75,000 people managed to secure the investment of a five-star international hotel brand while, 63km to the east, a city approaching twice Rotorua's size struggles to land its first international hotel brand.

Tauranga, population roughly 144,700 and New Zealand's fifth-largest city, had a tourism economy worth just slightly more than Rotorua's in the year to October - $864 million to $862m.

Tauranga's spend skewed towards the domestic market - Kiwi travellers - while Rotorua attracted more international spend.

Tauranga has long talked about the need for an international hotel brand.

The tourism sector is keen, of course, but Tauranga is not a tourist mecca in the same way Rotorua is, so the proposition for a hotel is a bit different.

The hotel is a problem that has landed in Tauranga City Council's basket.

The council has accepted the challenge, partnering with a development company to get a series of construction projects off the ground on a block of land it owns in the heart of the city. One of those projects would be an international-brand hotel.

The partnership deal was inked in 2017. More than two years down the line, there's no real plan in place for the land.

Lots of ideas, lots of analysis, a Heart of the City programme battered and bruised, and now, a new council to take up the charge. Or not.

One hotel developer has publicly expressed interest in a particular site in the council's block - up the top on Durham St, with the 360-degree view opportunity. An agent says the time is right and the market is ready.

But the council was considering the same site for a new administration building for its staff. So that approach is on ice.

The wheels are turning to catch Tauranga up to Rotorua in the hotel stakes, but slowly. And really, what's the rush?

Where Rotorua shares everything with the world, Tauranga seems to prefer to keep most of its gems to itself and those that already know about them.

The port city has Mauao, beautiful beaches and the world's produce patch on its borders. It's a great place to live with lots of jobs.

But, in my view, it does not seem that interested in being an international destination, content to be the gateway to elsewhere for thousands of cruise visitors each summer.

If Rotorua is the international hotel, Tauranga is New Zealand's posh beach bach, and maybe that's just fine for now.