VENUE FEATURE: TASMAN
All Photos Credit: Adam Gibson
In less than six months one of Hobart’s newest hotels has taken the world by storm, landing spots in two globally recognised magazine hot lists. THE opening of The Tasman took longer than anticipated – more than two years – for an array of Covid-related reasons, but the delays were well worth the wait for the Luxury Collec- tion’s latest masterpiece. As the first Marriott International branded hotel to land in Australia, anticipation was high prior to the Tasman throwing open its doors a week before Christmas last year to showcase the $80 million investment. Situated within the $200m Parliament Square project in the block behind Parliament House, The Tasman, which boasts 152 guests rooms and suites and is a reconstruction of former state government offices that brings together three eras of design (Georgian, Art Deco and con- temporary), has instantly found its place among some of the best hotels in the world.
Recently The Tasman was named as one of just two Australian properties in both Travel + Leisure’s coveted ‘It List’, and the 26th edition of Conde Nast Traveler’s ‘Hot List’, alongside Tropical North Queensland’s Silky Oaks Lodge. It is a recognition which already benefited the Tasman, but one which general manager Ste- phen Morahan believes will only grow as inter- national travel continues to grow. “You don’t apply for these things, so we didn’t know anything about it until they sent us the email,” Morahan says. “In fact, that was one of our brand teams in Singapore and Hong Kong that sent us an email saying congratulations, you’ve made it to the top 100 it list for Travel + Leisure. “Everybody knows Conde Nast, but it’s more global than it is recognised in Australia. Here, Travel + Leisure has more prominence because we’re more familiar with it and we are starting to hear people booking off the back of that but if we look at it on a big scale, we say ‘okay, Travel + Leisure is helping us nationally, and Conde Nast is going to help us globally’.
“There’s only us and another property in Austral- ia that made it to that list, which is extraordinary. “That was off the back of all the hard work that everybody had done throughout the period of opening, but also the brand Tasmania helps with that, because Tasmania is a destination. “It’s important to recognise the team that have helped deliver this result, because that’s the dif- ference for me. “This is a global list, which is a huge deal for a small company like us.” Business has been booming for The Tasman since its opening, and Morahan says there ap- pears to be no slowing down despite the state heading into its winter months. And that doesn’t include the potential interna- tional benefit of being aligned with close to 7800 other Marriott International Inc brands spanning 138 countries and territories, with loyalty ex- tremely high among Luxury Collection members. “What we’re seeing in terms of accommodation rates in occupancies for June, I don’t know that Tasmania has seen that before,” says Morahan.
“Dark Mofo is a massive contributor to that by going back to the two week program instead of the shortened version last year, and beyond that, it’ll be really interesting to see what happens in Tassie going into the colder months. “But what we’re finding is there’s a lot of in- centive groups coming out of Sydney and Mel- bourne that maybe traditionally would have gone overseas, but their trips are actually com- ing down here and spending time in Hobart. “We’ve got four buyouts of the entire hotel for this year, which is unheard of. In my 30 years of hotels, I’ve rarely seen a buy out before and we’ve got four of them. “And particularly for Marriott members who see this – and we have a membership base of over 50 million members across the globe – they’re drawn to Marriott properties, so I think they’re going to want to come and stay here and tick that box, particularly out of the US and Europe who are familiar with the Luxury Collection brand within Marriott.”
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Hospitality Review: June 2022
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