Diverse range of winners announced in Hospitality Awards

Diverse range of winners announced in 2012 Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence

A four–star hotel, an upmarket central-city restaurant, provincial dining and drinking establishments and several small town pubs in rural locations, are all among the winners in this year’s Hospitality New Zealand Awards For Excellence.

Representing a true spread of New Zealand’s diverse hospitality sector, winners across the 16 categories stretched from the Bay of Islands in Northland through to Invercargill in Southland.

The winners were presented with the accolades at the Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence dinner held in Wellington tonight (September 26). The Supreme Champion award went to Rydges Hotel Wellington.

Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson said the diverse geographic spread of winners at this year’s awards reflected that while many businesses in the industry sector were finding it hard to continue trading profitably, many other operations were in fact prospering and taking advantage of the discerning consumer dollar to build their customer bases.

“There was no one real region which dominated the results – and in fact several smaller towns throughout New Zealand can be particularly proud of what their local dining and drinking establishments achieved against stiff competition from the big cities,” Mr Robertson said.

“The judges noted that a repeated theme in many of this year’s winning entries was a determination of their businesses not to be stymied by a slower economy, and daring to be different in what some customers are seeing as a ‘vanilla’ or homogenous marketplace.

“Those points of differences showcased by many of the winners include service offerings, delivering customers a totally unexpected yet far superior experience to what they were anticipating, providing an ambience or atmosphere far removed from the local competition, and embracing new technology.”

Mr Robertson said the judges also noted that many of the winning entries were increasingly reviving ‘old school’ hospitality practices – such as founding marketing strategies around strong local customer networks, engendering staff loyalty, and offering amenities and ambience from throughout the generations of New Zealand’s heritage.

“The result is that the public are now seeing businesses with a balanced blend of old and new in an environment where the two styles blend seamlessly to deliver an outstanding customer experience – whether that’s a night out for dinner, a Sunday morning brunch, a few beers with the boys, or as a corporate guest in an upmarket hotel,” said Mr Robertson.

“The catalogue of winners across this year’s awards categories shows that New Zealand’s hospitality industry is well positioned in all its niches to take full advantage of the wider economic recovery over the coming years.”

Entrants into the Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence are judged over a six week period by a panel of independent industry professionals who assess every competitor on a range of commercial and operational criteria – including staff training and human resources, customer service, marketing and promotional activities, and the demonstration of business growth.

The winners for the 2012 Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence are:

Supreme Award Winner
Rydges Wellington

Personality of the Year
Judith Tabron, Soul Bar and Bistro

Best New/Redeveloped Bar/Restaurant
The Thomas Green Public House and Dining Room, Gore, Southland

Best Country Hotel
The Duke of Marlborough Hotel, Russell, Bay of Islands

Excellence in Host Responsibility
Little Rock Bar and Nightclub, Nelson

Excellence in Training and Staff Development
Soul Bar and Bistro, Auckland

Best Restaurant
Soul Bar and Bistro, Auckland

Excellence in Gaming
Yardhouse, Hamilton

Best Accommodation Hotel
Rydges Wellington

Best Environmental, Sustainable and Ethical Practice
Fiordland Lodge, Te Anau, Southland

Best New/Redeveloped Accommodation Hotel
Tuakau Hotel, Tuakau, Counties

Excellence in Customer Service
Rydges Wellington

Best Café
The Batch, Invercargill

Best Bar
The Sprig and Fern Milton St, Nelson

Excellence in Marketing
Grand Mercure Nelson Monaco, Nelson

Best Music Entertainment Venue
Studio the Venue, Auckland

Best Beef Bar Meal
The Clare Inn, Auckland

Best Lamb Bar Meal
The Riverhead, North-West Auckland
ends

© Scoop Media