Accor to build new Ibis hotel in Rotorua

The Accor group is to build an $11 million Ibis hotel in Rotorua.

The hotel is expected to open on December 1 and provide at least 30 new jobs.

The 145-room hotel is being built alongside the Royal Lakeside Novotel. Together, the two hotels owned by the Accor group will have 344 rooms -- making it the largest hotel complex in Rotorua.

Rooms at the Ibis will be at least $35 a night cheaper than those at the Novotel, the company says. The new hotel claims it will not hurt Rotorua's existing hotels, which are already fiercely competitive, but will instead encourage more visitors to Rotorua, especially large groups.

Ibis sales manager Amanda Murdoch said there was demand for more accommodation. "We are always screaming out for more beds. There are weekends here where we have had to turn people away."

Some of the hotel's rivals are not so sure.

Kingsgate Hotel general manager Matt Taplin said hotel prices had not risen substantially in the past three years, despite a recovery in international tourism.

He said while the Ibis would soak up the extra visitors from November to February, hotels across Rotorua would suffer during the quiet season.

Mr Taplin said no-one would be prepared to raise their tariffs for fear of losing business.

However, one of the country's leading hotel experts believe that will not necessarily be the case.

Stephen Hamilton of Horwath Asia Pacific said Accor could use the new Ibis as an opportunity to increase its prices at the Royal Lakeside Novotel, which would in turn spark tariff increases at other four-star hotels in Rotorua.

"The challenge is for not everyone to fight over the same segment of the market that is price sensitive."

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)