PCB Welcomes Perth Hotel Expansion

Metro Hotel Perth will increase its room capacity by almost 50% as management looks to capitalise on ever increasing demand for Perth hotels.

Following a $3.5 million renovation to all 94 rooms in 2009, Metro Hotel Perth is embarking on a new project which will include major renovations to the lobby area, hotel, pool area and restaurant.
Forty-six new rooms will also be completed by the end of the year, bringing the property’s offering to 140 rooms.

Making the announcement yesterday, Metro Hospitality Group chief operating officer George Bedwani said the additional rooms were vital to address accommodation shortages in Perth, where occupancy currently stands at 85%.

“We believe the hotel industry in Perth will remain buoyant over the next five years as there continues to be capacity constraints due to few major hotel developments being built in Perth,” he said.

“This hotel is in high demand [and] we are now going the next step to ensure we benefit from the anticipated growth and demand over the next 4-5 years,” Bedwani added.

With the latest Deloitte Global Performance Review predicting that Perth occupancy will peak at 89% in 2014, Perth Convention Bureau chief executive Paul Beeson said the additional capacity comes as a fitting time for the MICE market.

“The effects on MICE will be positive, with an increase in room stock and by extension more competitive rates,” he told The Nibbler. “The WA government’s efforts to incentivise hotel development continue to stimulate additional room stock, and The Metro Hotel is a direct result of this.”

Construction will commence mid year and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013. Management has promised the development will cause “minimal disruption” to guests.

Fran and Ted with the Mayor of Ipswich and Tennis Players

Fran and Ted with the Mayor of Ipswich and Tennis Players

Experience prevailed over youth on finals day of the 2013 City of Ipswich Tennis International, with Australian Colin Ebelthite and Croatian qualifier Jelena Pandzic clinching the titles at Ipswich Grammar Park Tennis Centre.

In hot conditions, South Australian Ebelthite won his first Pro Tour title since 2010 with a hard fought 6-4 6-7(7) 6-2 victory over New South Wales qualifier Jonathon Cooper.

One break of serve was enough for Ebelthite to close out the first set 6-4 against an agitated Cooper, yet Cooper started to stretch Ebelthite in the second set with aggressive groundstrokes and variety.

He looked set to take the second set after building a 5-2 lead before Ebelthite stormed back to force a second set tiebreak. Ebelthite saved one set point at 7-6 before Cooper closed the tiebreak out 9-7.

Both players required a change of attire in the oppressive conditions for the deciding third set, and it was Ebelthite who lifted his game once again with several net rushes, forcing a break at 3-2 in the third set.

He closed the match out with a series of unreturnable first serves.

Ebelthite was happy with the win and said he hoped it was a springboard for a good 2013 season.

“(I’m) just really happy to win the tournament here in Ipswich. I’d like to congratulate Jonathan on such a great week and I’m sure he will keep up his good form,” he said.

“I’d like to thank all of the sponsors and everyone that works hard behind the scenes to make these events happen. It’s great to have these types of events here in Australia.”

In the women’s final, Pandzic won the 10th Pro Tour title of her career with a 7-5 2-6 6-2 over West Australian 18-year-old Storm Sanders.

Sanders raced to a 5-2 lead in the first set before Pandzic reeled off five games in a row to win the opening set 7-5. In a seesawing affair Sanders regained the momentum by winning the next five games before closing out the second set 6-2.

However, Pandzic would not be denied, winning a tough third set 6-2 and ecstatic with her victory.

“I’m so happy to win this week as a qualifier. The tournament has been really nice and I would especially like to thank the City of Ipswich and everyone who has made the tournament possible.”

Metro Hotel Ipswich International’s second MICE Expo

An invitation to BEN to attend Metro Hotel Ipswich International’s second MICE Expo attracted conference and events planners from as far afield as the Gold Coast.

It was an experience that included a Brisbane Airport pickup in a white stretch limo, the fine hospitality of the Metro Hotel, hot air ballooning over Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley, a stroll through historic Queens Park, a helicopter tour of the city and a touch down at beautiful Brookwater Golf & Country Club with lunch overlooking the fairway at Drift Restaurant and a luxuriating spa treatment at Sang Day Spa.

Gary Long and Div Grover, Metro Hospitality Group, enjoying Ipswich’s Queen’s Park.

Metro Hotel Ipswich International as Seen on Ozzie Holiday

Metro Hotel Ipswich International as Seen on Ozzie Holiday

Metro Hospitality Group - The Year In Review - Metro Hotels

Our 36th year at Metro Hotels and the wider Metro Hospitality Group has seen us maintain our trading success as most properties continue to trade at high occupancies and robust room rates.

The Company enjoys a strong digital presence which is resulting in increasingly higher online bookings through our own Web site www.metrohotels.com.au, and a large network of social media engagements, and growing GDS (Global Distribution System) activity.

Traditional advertising and other forms of marketing have given way to promotion of our products through emailed newsletters, blogs, sites such as You Tube, Pinterest, and the social media playmakers Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and so on.

Back in 1976 when the Group originated, most business was secured through phone bookings, walk-ins, and travel agents, together with group bookings from tour wholesalers, inbound travel coordinators, local Australian bus companies, government departments, airlines, and sporting organisations.
While much of our group business still comes from the traditional sectors, individual, corporate, and government bookings are largely being made through our own Web site or third-party Web sites such as Wotif.com, Bookings.com,  RatestoGo.com, LastMinute.com.au,  Quick Beds, check-in.com.au, as well as the GDS, and international online booking engines including those operated by the Expedia group.

With a large percentage of business emanating online, room rates have been squeezed during low demand periods while at peak times they move substantially higher. Yield management allows our properties to optimise their rates commensurate with the level of demand in the market.

Metro Hotels was one of the first groups to recognise the importance of the Internet to the travel industry, employing its first IT Manager in the late 1990s. The Company continues to pour significant resources into this field as online reservations within our group, and in the industry at large, have become, or are fast becoming, the core facilitator of business.

During the year the Metro Hotel Sydney Central, one of two hotels we operate in Pitt Street, Sydney, has undergone an extensive refurbishment over several floors. Refurbishment of the balance of the hotel will commence in early 2013. A re-make of the Metro Hotel on Pitt is also planned while lesser-scale refurbishments have been carried out at Metro Hotel & Apartments  Gladstone (Queensland), Metro Hotel Perth, Metro Hotel Apartments Darling Harbour, and Metro Hotel Bank Place. An additional floor of rooms was added to the Metro Inn Miranda which has since been re-branded a Metro Hotel.

During the year the Company’s association with the Abood family, owners of Metro Inn Ryde came to an end when the family sold the property to an owner-operator. The association the Company had with the Abood family spanned 35 years, with the Metro Inn Ryde being the Company’s second hotel.
Despite the change of ownership, the property will continue to be known as Metro Inn Ryde as a result of a licensing agreement with the new owner. Work is proceeding on preparations for the redevelopment of Metro Hotel Perth which will involve in the first instance a new wing comprising 45 rooms.  It is hopeful construction will be underway in early 2013.

NSW Smoking Ban Smokers Like It

YESTERDAY’S introduction of strict outdoor smoking bans in NSW drew few objections on the Border; even smokers believe the tougher laws are a good idea.

It is now illegal to smoke in many outdoor public areas, including train stations, bus stops and sporting facilities.

Those who ignore the bans risk a $550 fine.

A smoker for more than 15 years, Duncan Cooper, of Albury was concerned about the harm passive smoke could do to children.

“I get passive smoke from my own cigarette when I’m not smoking it,” he said.
“For people’s health it will be a good thing.”

But he didn’t agree with the amount of the fine.

“Who has that amount of money these days?” he said.

Shane Vale said smoking away from people was common courtesy, NSW now made it law.
“It’s fair enough,” he said.

“I can understand that non-smokers don’t like to smell cigarette smoke, especially with kids around, but it’s not an illegal product ... it is a bit frustrating.”

The new laws are designed to protect people, particularly children, from passive smoke.
Eight-year-old Lily Ryan-McCormack is glad.

“Sometimes the smoke makes me have a bit of a headache,” she said.

“I smell it, and it smells really gross.”

The Asthma Foundation NSW yesterday applauded the NSW government’s decision, which will also see smoking banned from outdoor areas at venues where food is consumed from 2015.

“According to the most recent NSW government statistics, smoking-related illness accounts for about 5200 deaths and 44,000 hospitalisations per year in NSW and costs about $8 billion annually,”
Asthma Foundation NSW chief executive Michele Goldman said.

“Tobacco smoke is a key trigger for a potentially fatal asthma attack and is associated with higher rates of asthma.

“Children who live in homes where parents smoke are three times more likely to have asthma than children living in non-smoking homes.”

Bed Tax Would Hurt Tourism, Hoteliers Warn

FORCING tourists to pay a bed tax would cost jobs in tourism industry, hoteliers are warning.

The Accommodation Association of Australia (AAA) has hit out a suggestion by NSW Local Government Minister Don Page that a bed tax would help tourism hubs pay for infrastructure and services strained by the influx of holiday visitors.

"The accommodation industry is strongly opposed to a bed tax in any shape or form," said AAA CEO Richard Munro.

"A bed tax would mean job losses in Australia's accommodation industry; it would be inevitable."
Mr Page made the suggestion after witnessing a surge in summer visitors in his electorate of Byron Bay during the Christmas and New Year period.

More than 1.5 million visitors visit Byron Bay each year, and the town is straining under the pressure.
"The reality is that the infrastructure can't cope and the question is: 'What do we do about it?' A bed tax is definitely an option," Mr Page told ABC radio on Thursday.

But the AAA's 2000 members said they would not support such a tax.

"If any level of government is considering introducing such a tax... it would be met with fierce resistance from operators of accommodation businesses and the broader tourism industry," Mr Munro said in a statement on Friday.

He said hoteliers already paid enough taxes and that government, not the industry, should fund infrastructure.

"Our industry already pays millions of dollars in council rates, state taxes and federal taxes every year, and having to pay more would be a disaster."

View original article from the Herald Sun