Positive signs as hotels pour in money

AS the tourism sector rebounds strongly, more operators are reinvesting in their products.

Tens of millions of dollars have been or are being spent on new Great Barrier Reef vessels or upgrades.

Hoteliers have undertaken or are planning major works with the Reef Hotel Casino’s multimillion-dollar plans for new lobbies for both the gaming venue and the hotel next year.

Shangri-La Hotel continues its refurbishments, the Hilton and Double Tree by Hilton have had room upgrades in recent times as have the Pullman Reef Hotel Casino and the Pacific Hotel.

There have been various stages of investment in Accor, Mantra and Rydges’ properties in Cairns, investor Benny Wu plans an $80 million upgrade and extension to his Acacia Court Hotel, and a $1.8 million overhaul of the Great Northern Boutique Hotel has been completed in time for Christmas.

Now the new owners of the Pullman Cairns International Hotel intend to spend up to $16 million restoring the colonialstyle venue to its former glory.

The Shakespeare Property Group wants to return the 17-storey building to the top of the pile in Cairns as the city’s premium luxury hotel.

The focus will be on the rooms, with work expected to take place after next year’s tourism season.

In the meantime, the 11 conference rooms and the ballroom are receiving state-of-the-art audio visual equipment, with other work to include the car park and drive way, back of house, kitchens, the elevators and later the main bar and restaurant and the Village Lane tenancies.

Shakespeare said the hotel was purchased for more than $75 million because the firm had great faith in the region’s tourism industry and the multi-milliondollar investment in upgrades was proof of that.