Hotel beds “biggest issue” for Tassie tourism

Hotel beds “biggest issue” for Tassie tourism

A luxury hotel’s delay stings for Tassie tourism, just days after winning global acclaim as the best island in the region.

A waterfront hotel in Hobart slated to open at the end of the year, is reportedly a year behind schedule, leaving the city to continue to struggle with a critical accommodation shortage.

According to Perth Now, the $35 million 114-room MAC 01 hotel, which commenced construction late last year, is now looking at a late 2016 or early 2017 unveiling. The architect behind the highly acclaimed Saffire-Freycinet has designed the new hotel, which is part of the Federal Group.

Tourism Industry Council ceo Luke Martin told the paper the delay was disappointing as the city grapples with accommodation shortage hindering its potential growth.

“It’s the biggest issue we’ve got as an industry,” Martin said, the paper reports.

“It’s hard to argue for more flights to Tasmania when five months of the year our hotel occupancy rates are 95%.”

Martin said until the accommodation shortage was addressed with new build hotels, it would continue to affect Hobart’s ability to expand upon its share of conferences and business events.

“We need to be able to demonstrate we have the hotel rooms to accommodate people,” he said.

Figures show hotel occupancy numbers continue to rise around the state, with May seeing an increase of 64% year-on-year and room rate and yield up by over $5 from the previous year.

The delay comes days after Tasmania was voted as the best island in the region by Travel + Leisure US readers.

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