Five-star beds for Auckland waterfront Construction of a $200 million 5-star hotel on Auckland’s waterfront is expected to start next year with Chinese funding. Auckland Council mayor Len Brown has confirmed the 200-room hotel in Wynyard Quarter will be developed in partnership between council organisation Waterfront Auckland and Beijing-based property developer Fu Wah International Group. The hotel was expected to open by 2017. The $200m investment by Fu Wah Group was believed to be one of the largest foreign investments in public infrastructure in New Zealand, Brown said. ‘‘The hotel will provide a boost in job numbers and be instrumental in attracting high net worth individuals to visit Auckland, a segment recently identified by the tourism industry as still largely untapped.’’ PricewaterhouseCoopers economic analysis estimated the hotel will create more than 1300 fulltime jobs and add more than $100m to Auckland’s GDP during construction. Once completed the hotel was expected to add more than 750 jobs and generate more than $50m to the region’s GDP per year. Brown said Fu Wah was chosen after a process which began in 2012.
The Chinese tourism market is worth $670m a year to New Zealand and the Tourism Industry Association expects this to double over the next five years. Brown said having a Chinese developer and a yet to be selected premium hotel brand will help attract wealthy Chinese tourists. He said the deal meant Waterfront Auckland and the council could maintain ownership of its strategic assets, but leverage them using private funding. Source: Josh Martin, Fairfax NZ
Royal Visit 2014 For the past 10 days the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have toured New Zealand with their son George to the delight of the locals. Thousands have braved the sun and rain to cheer and wave them on, all with the hope of a shake of the hand, a word with the royals or even a “selfi”. They arrived in Wellington and over the next 10 days visited Blenheim, Auckland, Cambridge, Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch before returning to Wellington to fly onto Australia. George became an instant hit and when he attended a play date with Kate at government house along with 9 other invited families from around New Zealand. New Zealand being a sporty nation it wasn’t long before the royals were at play and during their time here we’ve seen them race America’s cup boats on Auckland harbour, enjoy a jetboat ride in Queenstown, cheer for their rugby team in Dunedin and even play cricket in Christchurch. Thankfully New Zealand is also renowned for its wine and so a relaxing afternoon at the Amisfield Winery in Queenstown would have allowed welcome recovery. Although a seemingly brief visit the public and media have embraced the royals and the tour appears to have been an enjoyable and successful one. They now head off to Sydney for the next stage of their tour down under.
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