Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Agrees to Purchase Management Rights and Real Estate Assets for Holiday Inn Surfers Paradise in Australia
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts today announced it had entered into an agreement to purchase the management rights and associated real estate assets of the hotel property currently operating as the Holiday Inn Surfers Paradise.The sale includes the management rights from Colryan Pty Ltd (managers and receivers appointed) for up to 414 hotel rooms and the real estate assets from Seasilver Hotels Pty Ltd comprising reception, extensive conferencing areas, and restaurant and bar.The contract is subject to the satisfaction of standard commercial conditions. However, it is expected to settle in late 2011 or early 2012 and the property will then be re-branded to Outrigger Surfers Paradise.Outrigger Hotels & Resorts is a 64-year-old privately-held U.S. company and one of the fastest growing hospitality groups in the Asia-Pacific and Oceania regions. The hotelier has a long association with the Gold Coast after selecting the destination as its base to expand the brand from the U.S. into Australia in 1998.The company's decision to invest in Surfers Paradise's tourism sector is also a major show of confidence it has for the Gold Coast and builds upon the presence of its Australian head office in Surfers Paradise.Regional General Manager-Australia, Grant James, said he was extremely confident in the future of the Gold Coast's tourism industry."The Gold Coast has fared much better than other regions in Queensland which can be evidenced by our other Gold Coast resort at Coolangatta eclipsing revenue and occupancy forecasts for the 2011/2012 period," Mr James said.His belief in a rebounding domestic tourism market was echoed by the release last month of Tourism Australia's National Visitor Survey stating that domestic tourism was on the rise with June recording a jump in domestic travellers by 8 per cent."Despite current global economic woes, there is a lot of positive news coming out of the Gold Coast which includes the opening of two new five-star hotels, construction of the Gold Coast light rail and planned runway extension at Gold Coast International Airport to allow direct flights from China."We are pleased to be back in the heart of Surfers Paradise and we're looking forward to working with local industry and operators and making a positive contribution to the local economy," Mr James added.