$7M in extensions to Chateau Regency

Press, 2 December 1985, Page 40

$7M in extensions to Chateau Regency

By special correspondent Plans for $7 million extensions to the Chateau Regency in Christchurch were announced to shareholders of Queenstown Resorts, Ltd, at the company’s annual meeting in Queenstown. The chairman, Mr T. M. Stalker, said additions would include another 110 rooms, a swimming pool, pool bar, and the virtual doubling of the Lamplighter restaurant. Extensions to the Chateau Regency would double the profit from that property even after making an allowance for reduced occupation of the larger number of rooms.

Construction would hopefully begin in late February and would be along the same architectural design. The Chateau Regency was

in effect the company’s “front door” to Queenstown, and acted as an important gateway to South Island tourist areas, Mr Stalker said. A recent announcement by Air New Zealand to direct additional international flights into Christchurch indicated the “soundness” of the directors’ decision. Queenstown Resorts also hoped to further diversify its trading by expanding into other tourist-related operations. A number of options were being looked at but “commercial considerations” made it impossible for these to be made public at present. The managing director, Mr J. Boult, was questioned on whether these plans involved another company

and said that he could not comment at this stage, but an announcement was due early in the new year. Shareholders voted to increase the company’s current capital base of SI2M to S4OM by creating 70M additional 40c shares. Concern expressed by some shareholders at the fall in Australian tourists coming to New Zealand were put to rest by assurances from Mr Boult that Queenstown Resorts was prepared to take advantage of a lapse in the American Japanese tourist market. Marketing would be improved so that the company was assured that the business from Australians was still coming to this country, he said.