Outrigger grows in Australia
| • | 7.7-acre Waikiki complex advances |
 |
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts has announced it will manage a new $41 million resort in northern New South Wales, marking the Hawai'i-based lodging company's 10th Australia project in its continued expansion throughout the Pacific.
The property will be part of a $192 million seaside tourism and residential village development called Salt. Outrigger on the Beach at Salt, developed by Ray Group, will be Outrigger's largest resort in Australia and its first property outside Queensland. Opening is scheduled for early 2004.
Since 1998, the family-owned company has grown to manage more than $208 million worth of property in Australia. Three more Outrigger-managed resorts are scheduled to open there over the next two months, including one in Palm Cove and two in Port Douglas.
Outrigger also hopes to announce a deal to manage its first New Zealand property within 60 days, said Bill Henderson, Outrigger's vice president of business development.
As it progresses toward its goal of managing 20 properties in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific by 2005, Outrigger is also working to become a significant player in the meeting, conference and incentive business in the Pacific.
The Salt resort will include 318 suites and conference facilities for up to 400 delegates as part of Outrigger's effort to attract business travelers from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Henderson said that Outrigger's success in Australia can be traced back 30 or 40 years, when it was the "brand of choice for Australians coming to Hawai'i." Similar philosophies and management styles contributed to what Henderson described as "symbiotic relationships" with specific resort developers like Ray Group and Forrester Kurtz.
"Both of these developers say, 'Where would you like to be next? We'll build something for you there,' " said Henderson.
Worldwide, Outrigger Enterprises Inc. owns or operates properties totaling more than $1.4 billion, representing 12,000 rooms in 45 hotels and resorts.
