Tourism bodies, including Tourism Australia, have welcomed James Packer’s plan to build a $568 million luxury hotel in Perth with the property set to ease the acute room shortage in the city.
Crown Towers Perth will contain 500 rooms with construction set to begin early next year. The hotel, described as “six star” by Crown, will form part of Crown-owned Burswood Entertainment Complex and is expected to open in 2016.
Tourism Council WA said the development, announced yesterday, was the “most significant tourism investment in the state for more than a decade”.
“This is a major step forward in addressing the critical hotel room shortage which has been holding back leisure tourism in regional areas across the state,” Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said. “Many regional tourism destinations are suffering because we are turning away tourists who cannot find a room in Perth before travelling into the regions.”
Tourism Australia said Packer, who has been vocal about the need to improve tourism infrastructure, has put his money where his mouth is.
“This is a bold investment and I’d argue shows faith in Australian tourism and the positive direction our industry is heading,” managing director Andrew McEvoy said. “James Packer….deserves credit for leading by example here. We urgently need more rooms in capital city Australia, particularly Perth where occupancy rates are so high.”
State tourism minister Kim Hames said Perth’s hotel room stock has increased by only 223 since 2006 despite the city having the highest occupancy, average room rates and revenue per available room of all Australia’s capital cities.
Crown Towers Perth will become the state’s largest hotel and increase the number of rooms in the city by 8%.
Crown will pay the state $60 million to acquire land adjacent to Burswood to house the property. As part of the agreement, the government has agreed not to oppose an application for 500 additional gaming machines and 130 new gaming tables at Burswood.
