Hilton man has high hopes for NZ

Martin Rinck, pictured at the Hilton Queenstown, expects tourism to bounce back from disasters. Photo / Supplied

Hotel giant Hilton Worldwide has opened two Queenstown properties as part of plans for aggressive growth in the Asia-Pacific region, despite a stuttering global recovery.

The hotel group has 72 properties in 17 countries within the region and 107 under various stages of development.

Martin Rinck, president for Asia Pacific for Hilton Worldwide, said the intention was to increase the portfolio to 300 hotels in the Asia-Pacific region within four years.

The region includes India, China and New Zealand.

The Hilton Queenstown and neighbouring Kawarau Hotel are both managed by the company and officially opened last week.

Rinck said India had fewer branded hotel rooms than Manhattan, while China had 50 cities with more than one million inhabitants.

China was the most important growth market for Hilton outside of the US, while the outbound market was expected to quadruple during the next couple of years, Rinck said.

Statistics New Zealand data shows short-term overseas visitor arrivals for the year ended May from China were up 27.5 per cent to 130,408, with India up 13.3 per cent to 29,992.

The UK and US - the second and third biggest markets - were down 11.4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively for the year at 221,483 and 189,250 visitors.

"I'm absolutely convinced the inbound from Australia, from the UK, from the US will continue to prosper, while at the same time seeing a growth in China and Southeast Asia and India in particular," he said.

"Some people are talking about the double dip [recession] ... and getting concerned about the housing market and general GDP growth.

"I'm perhaps more on the optimistic side. But I think it will be a cautious but steady recovery that will see those markets [like the US and UK] also on a continual growth trajectory."

The Christchurch earthquake would have a temporary impact.

"Tourism is very resilient and tourism will come back," he said.

"The human mind works in such a way that those things will be forgotten and people will continue to travel here and tourism will be on the rise again."

The impact of the Japanese natural disaster was a tougher question.

"It's probably more a 12 to 18 months turnaround [for Hilton's hotel business]," he said.

The company's hotels in India would rise from two last year to 10 by the end of this year and that would not satisfy demand.

"The potential that you have to grow further in emerging markets in this part of the world is incredible and I think we will see that pace of growth continue for at least another five to 10 years before we see a slowing of the current curve."

Marlene Poynder, general manager of the Hilton Queenstown and Kawarau Hotel, said the strength of the brand in emerging markets helped in New Zealand.

"We have business coming in from mainland China and India, high-end [free independent traveller] business, and that is because they know the Hilton brand," Poynder said.

The country could expect to see more travellers arrive from the Asia- Pacific region.