Inside Tourism: Pro-invest Group lifts a strong hotel higher

A new feature published by Inside Tourism explores how Pro-invest Group identified and unlocked further potential within one of its strongest-performing hotel assets, repositioning the former Holiday Inn Express & Suites Queenstown as voco Queenstown.

The article features insights from Tim Sherlock, Chief Executive Officer of Pro-invest Group, on the thinking behind the transformation and the disciplined approach taken to investing in an already successful property.

“This was already a strong-performing hotel,” Tim explains in the article. “We believed there was another level of opportunity if we could align the brand and guest experience more closely with the strength of the location and what we were seeing in the Queenstown market.”

The repositioning builds on the hotel’s established fundamentals, including its location, distinctive architecture, commercial track record and connection to one of the world’s leading tourism destinations. Rather than starting again, Pro-invest Group focused investment on the areas capable of making the greatest difference to the guest experience.

The refurbishment encompassed all 227 guestrooms and suites, a redesigned arrival area and Great Room, enhanced meeting facilities, and the introduction of Mozzarella & Co., featuring an open show kitchen, wood-fired pizza oven, private dining space and outdoor terrace.

The repositioning has also broadened the hotel’s appeal across leisure, corporate, meetings and group demand. Its redesigned public spaces have been conceived as places for guests and the wider community to meet, dine and spend time, making the hotel experience a more meaningful part of a stay in Queenstown.

The project demonstrates Pro-invest Group’s integrated approach to active asset management. Investment, design, development, asset management and operational expertise were brought together around a clear understanding of the property, its market and its longer-term potential.

As Tim notes, “Some of the most interesting opportunities in real estate can be sitting within an asset you already own. Sometimes it’s about knowing that asset well enough to see what else it can become.”

Read the full Inside Tourism article here.