Hotel chain rides on tourism boom

By CHRIS DANIELS


The sustained boom in tourist numbers is paying off for CDL Hotels, which says the good times look set to continue.

New Zealand's largest hotel operator reported a half-year profit to the end of June of $13.4 million, up more than 16 per cent from 2003, and managing director Tsang Jat Meng said Queenstown was enjoying particularly good times. Overseas and domestic tourism was helping push up occupancy rates and prices there.

New airlines services to New Zealand, including flights from Emirates and Royal Brunei, were helping add to the huge numbers of tourists choosing to visit this country, spurred by its "safe haven" reputation and Lord of the Rings hype.

Direct flights to Queenstown from Australia had been another factor helping CDL, with Australian companies increasingly choosing New Zealand as a conference destination.

During last year's Sars outbreak, when tourist numbers began dropping dramatically, CDL launched a marketing campaign targeting New Zealanders. Suppliers and business contacts were offered cheap accommodation deals at CDL hotels, helping to keep occupancy up.

Tsang said he expected the next six months to also be above last year's result, meaning a similar record profit for the full year.

Occupancy rates for CDL hotels were up 7.5 per cent across the group, with rates in its Auckland properties up more than 10 per cent. CDL runs the Millennium, Copthorne and Kingsgate hotel chains.