Intrepid Travel Expands Into Hotels With Launch of Drifter
Main Photo: The new Drifter Christchurch, NZ
Date: November 2021
Name: Drifter – an Intrepid Hotel
Locations: Initially Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in 2022 with plans to secure an East Coast Australia property in 2022
Number of Keys: Christchurch – 95; Others will be between 60-150
Seller: The site was built in 1919 as the Wellington Wool Mill
Buyer: JV between Intrepid Travel and Drifter Hospitality
Adventure self-guided and group tour operator Intrepid Travel is branching out into the accommodation market through a sustainability-minded ‘hybrid hotel’ joint venture with New Zealand’s Drifter Hospitality Group.
Intrepid Travel is a 50/50 joint venture partner with Drifter and the cornerstone investor in raising a fund of AUS$75 million (£41 million) to acquire and reposition hotels across Australia and New Zealand.
The Christchurch development is on a leasehold with a future option for purchase. The reposition of the property to a Drifter by Intrepid hotel will see NZ$8-10m investment. They plan to re-purpose/recycle around 80% of the existing infrastructure and interior layout
The group’s first new owner-operated premium hybrid hotels will open in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in 2022 and be branded ‘Drifter – an Intrepid Hotel’ with plans to secure an East Coast Australia property in 2022.
The new Intrepid hotels division will be led by the company’s former Managing Director APAC, Sarah Clark. The project will begin with eight properties in Australia and New Zealand, the first three to open in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch from 2022 and growing to 15 by 2025. The group then plans to take the concept globally, with targeted assets combining re-positioned hotels, hostels, re-purposed commercial sites and new builds.
The Facade of the Christchurch building has a Category 1 Heritage listing and was saved from demolition following the 2011 Earthquakes. It is one of only 3 buildings left in New Zealand clad in Takaka Stone to the Facade. This has been carefully restored as part of the current owner base build works in preparation for the fit out for Drifter by Intrepid’s flagship Hybrid Hotel. They have also just confirmed we will be using 100% New Zealand wool commercial grade carpet throughout the carpeted areas of the hotel, which is made locally by a NZ owned business, a great tie in to the origins of the building as a wool mill.
Hybrid hotels offer flexible room options (including private suites and shared rooms) in popular city neighbourhoods with exciting communal areas and unique cultural and dining offerings. The concept is popular with millennials, who increasingly seek experiential accommodation. Research by CBRE found says millennials spend more on hotels than Baby Boomers or Gen X. They seek transformational and shareable experiences, such as the ones offered by the hybrid hotel concept.
“We’ve long recognised the potential to bring our knowledge of sustainable experience-rich travel and the international tourism market – particularly solo and millennial travellers – to the hotel sector,” said Intrepid Travel CEO James Thornton. “With Drifter, we’ll create truly unique hotels that travellers will love, and the opportunity to grow across the region is profound,” he adds.
“I’m thrilled that we’re partnering with Intrepid Travel, with their decades of experience in international tourism and their global leadership in sustainable travel, along with their operational expertise and brand strength,” added Ryan Sanders, Drifter CEO.
Intrepid Travel’s newly appointed Managing Director Hotels, Sarah Clark, said the hybrid hotel concept would offer local and international guests a new type of experiential hotel stay. “I couldn’t be more excited to be expanding into the accommodation vertical, with Drifter being our first launch partnership,” said Clark.
“We’ll offer high-quality, unique accommodation and sustainable experiences in the heart of buzzing urban CBDs and neighbourhoods. With travel reopening, people looking to reconnect, and the opportunity presented with city real estate, it’s the perfect moment to embark on this expansion phase,” she added.
Intrepid Travel says it will bring its expertise in decarbonisation to ensure the highest sustainability standards across the hotel group. The properties will be carbon neutral, and sustainable practices will be implemented across design, services, amenities, utilities and broader operational practices.
Pre-pandemic, Intrepid Travel carried 470,000 customers in 2019, booking more than one million hotel nights a year, and this marks the company’s first move into the accommodation market.
Price: NZ$8-10m for Chrsitchurch on a lease
Price per Key: $94,737
THPT Comment: More innovation in the hostel/budget hotel sector. Makes sense to bring together the tour-operator and hotel operator, at this level….Worked for the likes of Tui, ClubMed and others at the mega-level, although with Covid, they have gone asset-lite
First Seen: KarryOn
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