Australia-based TFE Hotels has signed an agreement to take over management of five hotels in New Zealand, as it adds significant presence in another country to its international roster.
A partnership with New Zealand hotel owner Heritage Hotels will see TFE take over management of five properties, adding more than 500 rooms to the TFE managed portfolio. The hotels will be rebranded under TFE’s brand flags, aiming to driver further visibility for the hospitality assets.
Building a New Zealand profile
The agreement covers two hotels in Auckland, Adina CityLife and the Rendezvous Heritage Auckland. In Wellington, another CityLife property will add a long stay apartment-style offering to the portfolio. A further Rendezvous Heritage hotel is in Christchurch, while in Queenstown, a further Rendezvous Heritage features 175 rooms, complete with facilities for meetings and events.
Jeffrey Tang, managing director of Heritage Hotels, explained why they had teamed up with this new partner: “TFE Hotels is an owner, manager and developer and we see their impressive presence in multiple markets – which includes more than 50 properties in Australia, a strong pipeline of properties and ties to Singapore and Europe – as complementary to our vision for the future.” Heritage has a total of 10 hotels across New Zealand, and for now will continue to manage the other five assets itself.
The move looks to capture more of New Zealand’s tourism business, which is building back after the pandemic. In the year to June 2024, New Zealand recorded over 3.2m international visitors, up from just over 2.5m the previous year. The short term aim will be to build past the busiest tourism year recorded, with close to 3.9m visitors in 2019. Of the total, more than one third of international arrivals are from Australia, presenting TFE with opportunities to promote the destination and the new hotels in its home market.
“Auckland and Wellington are key target markets for us, with our Adina and Travelodge brands already well established,” said TFE Hotels’ group COO, Chris Sedgwick. “Plus, the reintroduction of the much-loved Rendezvous brand into New Zealand provides Asia Pacific scale to the portfolio and will see TFE venture into Otago for the first time.”
Expansion in Australia
TFE continues to build its portfolio in its home market. In the coming months it will open the 102 room Eve boutique hotel in Sydney. That will be followed in the second half of 2025 by the launch of the Hannah Street hotel in Melbourne, a development that represents an investment of around AUD150m.
Elsewhere, TFE is building its presence in Europe, where it has traded for the last 15 years. There, it has hotels across a dozen cities in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Hungary, predominantly with its Adina aparthotel brand. Further expansion is on the way, with the premium A by Adina brand landing in Vienna in 2025. A selection of 108 studio to two bedroom apartments is being built in the Danubeflats tower, which will offer guests great accommodation and views across the Danube river and the city skyline.
