Gold Coast, Australia: Hong Kong developer Golden Horse Group has reportedly committed to building an A$60 million luxury hotel at Hope Island, signing with Accor over the 150-room property, which will be branded a Swissotel.
Simon McGrath, Accor’s Chief Operating Officer, who has won the management rights to run the hotel under the Swissotel brand, said few luxury hotels had been built in Australia in the decade to 2010.
“You now see a trend in developing upscale hotels, investors are seeing the opportunities, and you seeing a strong Queensland tourism industry with Chinese arrivals growing 20 per cent in the past 12 months,” McGrath was quoted as saying by The Australian.
The Swissotel will be designed by architects Jackson Teece and will be built over three levels to include a 300-room conference facility, spa and wellness centre at the golf course, which opened in 1993 and is rated Queensland’s third best resort.
The new Swissotel to be built on the 18-hole Links Hope Island Golf Course precinct adds to the myriad of projects relative newcomer Golden Horse plans in Australia, including a residential apartment tower in the Brisbane suburb of Milton, the A$60 million Noosa Springs Golf Resort and the potential development of the Twin Creeks 18-hole golf course in Sydney’s West.
Golden Horse reportedly spent A$14 million buying The Links at the Hope Island Resort four years ago.
Links Hope Island Golf Course is managed by IMG, an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.