Nearly 2000 rooms being built for cup

Waldorf Stadium Apartments Hotel. Photo / Martin Sykes

New Zealand has 952 new hotel rooms/tourist apartments under construction and 551 rooms opened this year.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' Australasian survey found 1503 rooms either well advanced or opened and ready for Rugby World Cup 2011.

The event was proving a boost for this sector of the property development market, it found.

Almost 2000 new rooms could be finished soon.

"There are 1893 rooms in the development pipeline with projects fairly evenly distributed between those which are under construction (51.3 per cent or 991 rooms) and those proposed thought likely to progress in the short to medium term (48.7 per cent or 941 rooms).

"Should all projects proceed new rooms will increase existing stock by an average of 2.2 per cent per annum in the period to 2012. This is a slightly higher rate of growth than over the five years to 2008 with many projects slated to open before the Rugby World Cup 2011," JLL said.

The biggest new hotels will be the 171-room Rendezvous Hotel Christchurch, the 193-room Novotel Christchurch and the 178-room The Westin Queenstown.

"For Accor's Novotel this completes the set with the brand now represented in each of the five main accommodation centres, and it is the second property in New Zealand for Starwood and Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts, both operating one property in Auckland.

"The Westin development is part of the larger Kawarau Falls Station development in Queenstown. Parties of this development have now fallen into receivership, placing doubt over all of its proposed hotels including the Westin.

"There are a further 941 rooms proposed which, if completed, will represent a further 4.2 per cent increase in accommodation room supply. All proposed rooms are scheduled to open in 2011. However, unless financing has been secured and construction is imminent, it is unlikely that all projects will open within the specified timeframe," JLL said.

The rugby event put development under huge pressure.

"Having first taken place in 1987, the Rugby World Cup has grown in popularity to become the third-largest sporting event in the world behind the Olympic Games and the Fifa World Cup. The sudden influx of visitors is expected to place immense pressure on the supply of hotels in the country to such an extent that non-traditional forms of visitor accommodation are being considered.

"Financing restrictions and softer demand conditions may also result in some proposed projects not progressing prior to hosting this international event.

New Zealand hotel owners should therefore start planning now to maximise this opportunity," Jones Lang said.