Luxury hotels planned for S.I.-Minister

Press, 10 October 1984, Page 2

Luxury hotels planned for S.I.-Minister

Parliamentary reporter Luxury hotels planned for Christchurch and Queenstown within the next three years will give the South Island the capacity to cater for the top end of the tourist market, according to the Minister of Tourism, Mr Moore.

He was replying to an assertion that the winners of an American luxury holiday in New Zealand competition might have to be kept in the North Island because of the standard of luxury accommodation in the South Island. This claim had been made by the vice-president of Travel Programmers, a Californian company involved in a joint venture to promote New Zealand as a glamour tourist destination on American prime time television. Mr Moore said the first

moves towards catering for this end of the market had already been made. A 300room Christchurch Park Royal Hotel was planned for completion in 1987, and the 200-room T.H.C. Queenstown about the end of 1986.

Both would offer luxury accommodation for the tourist with “plenty in the hip pocket.” He said the vice-presi-dent, Mrs Margie Frost, should also appreciate that the Tourist Hotel Corporation already provided accommodation in the luxury class at both the Hermitage and Te Anau. Government, devaluation of the dollar by 20 per cent had already given South Island tourism “a substantial shot in the arm,” and this would be supplemented by the purchase Dy Air New Zealand of new jet aircraft for its main tourist routes.