Britain's Bass buys up dozens of hotels

By KARYN SCHERER

One of the world's largest hotel groups cites optimism about the long-term potential of tourism as the main reason it snapped up the second-largest hotel operator in Australia and New Zealand.

British-based hotel and brewing giant Bass confirmed yesterday that it had agreed to pay $A313 million ($NZ398 million) for 59 hotels owned, leased or managed by the SPHC Group throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

All the group's 13 hotels in New Zealand are included in the deal. They are the Centra Auckland, Centra Auckland Airport, Centra Rotorua, Parkroyal Wellington, James Cook Centra Wellington, Avon River Centra, the Hermitage Mt Cook, Glencoe Mt Cook, Parkroyal Queenstown, Gardens Parkroyal Queenstown and Centra Te Anau.

A further 11 hotels in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu are included, as well as 24 Australian hotels and 11 in Asia.

Fourteen Travelodge hotels will remain under the ownership of the Chicago-based Pritzker family, which also owns the Hyatt chain.

None of the New Zealand hotels is owned by the SPHC Group, and Bass has said it will need to talk to owners - including various institutional and private investors - about any rebranding.

However, it has confirmed its keenness to have "a significant number" converted to its own brands such as Inter-Continental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites.

Bass already owns or manages several hotels in Australia under the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Inter-Continental brands, but does not own any in New Zealand.

The company indicated last year that it was keen to invest further in hotels to counter falling beer consumption.

The London-based chief executive of Bass Hotels & Resorts, Tom Oliver, was yesterday reported as saying the company was bullish about the long-term prospects of growth in the region, with the Sydney Olympics likely to spark "unprecedented growth" in tourist numbers.

He also hinted that Bass might be keen to acquire more hotels in this part of the world.

The chairman of the Major Accommodation Providers group, Shane Evans, described the deal as a vote of confidence in the tourist sector.

He said it was well-known that Rotorua, Queenstown and Christchurch had been hit by the Asian crisis, "but tourism is in good heart, as is corporate travel."