Hamilton’s Ibis hotel back in action after long Covid stint
With tourists returning in greater numbers, Fieldays kicking off this week and other big events on the horizon, the Ibis Hamilton Tainui hotel reopens to the public tomorrow with a fresh new look following a $7.7 million refit.
The move will return 126 hotel beds in the central city as Hamilton handles growing numbers of domestic and international tourists following lockdowns.
But, in a sign of frustration over the estimated ‘‘hundreds’’ of local motel rooms being taken up for emergency housing, Waikato Motel Association president Narinder Sagoo cheekily suggested that the reopened Ibis could be used for this purpose to free up space in his members’ premises.
The 3.5 star Ibis has not been open for normal business since 2020, and was a managed isolation and quarantine facility till earlier this year.
General manager Philip Hilton is reluctant to use the phrase ‘‘post-Covid’’ but says ‘‘we are learning to live with Covid’’.
Hilton was confident the Ibis and sister hotel the Novotel, with its 217 beds, would do well. The Novotel had solid demand this year and last, with domestic demand lifting as restrictions were eased and conferences and events resumed.
The likes of Fieldays, and next year’s NZ Sevens and the Women’s Football World Cup events in Hamilton would add to demand.
For Fieldays, the Novotel was fully booked and the Ibis was filling fast, he said on Thursday.
Summer bookings at Ibis were strong.
‘‘Those events provide a strong base not only for the hotels but the region.’’
Also, he said: ‘‘We are starting to see a slow return of international tourism’’, with Hobbiton, Hamilton Gardens and the Waitomo Caves key attractions, as well as visiting friends and relatives.
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism chief executive Nicola Greenwell said in an email: ‘‘Many of our operators are reporting strong return of international visitation, either already visiting or with forward bookings.’’
The proportion of international visitor guest nights had grown from a low of 2% earlier in the year to 12% across the region in September and 10% in Hamilton.
Also, Hamilton achieved a 76% occupancy rate in commercial accommodation in September, compared with 47% nationally.
Since March, Hamilton had been the top-ranked council area by occupancy rate and typically enjoyed stronger occupancy rates than the national average.
‘‘After 21⁄2 years of relative gloom, the summer is looking positive for the tourism and events sector,’’ Greenwell said.
A city council report last year indicated an extra 160 hotel rooms and serviced apartments were needed by next year and that the Claudelands Events Centre had missed out on business due to a lack of city beds.
On whether hotel capacity was enough to keep meeting demand and to support growth in tourism and events, Hilton said: ‘‘I think capacity is OK for the region . . . I think we’ve got sufficient hotel room nights at the moment.’’
But, in future, more rooms may be needed ‘‘if the events calendar continues to grow as hoped’’. A key issue would be making sure that all hotels, including any new ones, got enough guests year round.
‘‘That is the challenge really,’’ said Hilton.
Deciding between a big new build and hoping for the best with filling it, or generating the guests first and then building, was one of the issues to be looked at by the industry.
‘‘Collectively we in the industry and the region will have to add that equation up.’’
Greenwell said the region needed more commercial accommodation options, particularly hotel rooms within Hamilton city.
‘‘There are times that we are unable to bid or host an event because we don’t have the rooms to host the attendees overnight.’’
Looking ahead, Hilton was ‘‘pretty optimistic’’ over next year and 2024.
‘‘We think people want to get out and travel again . . . after being locked down for two or three years.’’
But Greenwell noted some operators still had challenges with recruitment and securing staff for the summer.
On the joint capacity of the Ibis and the Novotel being back on stream, Hilton said: ‘‘We have become a complex of 343 rooms again, two restaurants and eight conference rooms.
‘‘It is good to be back.’’
The motel association’s Sagoo, meanwhile, is keen for action on setting up alternatives to using motels for emergency housing, as he says this can reduce capacity for tourists and other visitors in the city.
‘‘I would really like to see the politicians get together and sort out the situation they have imposed on us.’’
He also wants state agencies to consider alternatives to motels.
Extra cash for emergency clients had effectively acted as a ‘‘bribe’’ to take them, he said.
On the situation affecting the ability to handle more returning tourists, Sagoo said: ‘‘The telltale signs are already there.’’
Tourists could end up rubbing shoulders with emergency housing clients who were feeling under stress, Sagoo said.
‘‘Motels are not the place for social housing, it was not designed for this.’’