Huka Falls Resort up for sale…
Up for sale: With accommodation, food and beverage, viticulture and conference function amenities all on site, Huka
Falls Resort is the Central North Island’s only vertically-integrated hospitality business
The Central North Island’s only vertically-integrated hospitality business has been placed on the market for sale.
Huka Falls Resort on the outskirts of Taupo is the region’s only venue encompassing viticulture, food and beverage
service, entertainment and conference premises, and large-scale commercial accommodation.
The purpose-built 3.8 hectare property was developed some 22 years ago and features:
• A 780 square metre conference and function centre licensed to hold up to 150 guests
in a variety of room configurations
• A separate 250 square metre licensed restaurant and dining room served by a fully commercial kitchen capable of
hosting up to 140 guests
• 27 privately-owned studio, one, and two-bedroom villas leased back to the resort
• 500 square metres of pinot noir vines and a boutique 198 square metre winery with tasting room and function facilities
• A consecrated church
• A full range of resort-style leisure facilities including tennis and petanque courts, and a swimming pool.
The Huka Falls Resort is being marketed for sale by Bayleys through a tender process closing on May 15. Salesperson Paul
Dixon said the resort’s occupancy demographic was split between corporate functions during the week, and leisure group
bookings on the weekend – most utilising the resort as an all-in-one wedding venue.
“The various hospitality amenities within the greater resort allow for the provision of simultaneous function hosting.
At one end of the scale, the venue can be exclusively booked for sole-use, while at the other end of the scale there is
the potential to parallel host several groups in the conference rooms, another group in the restaurant, another in the
winery, and even another group in the church,” he said.
“Being in the virtual centre of the North Island, Taupo benefits from being equi’-distant between Auckland and
Wellington, as well as easily accessible from Hawke’s Bay and the Bay of Plenty.
“For corporates with a strong North Island presence, Taupo is the location of choice for accessibility – a fact which
was recognised very early on by Huka Falls’ original developer who had seen an identical trend emerge in the UK.”
The Huka Falls Resort business as a whole employs 12 full time equivalent staff, with numerous part-time and casual
staff.
“The business and its management team are well connected in the region’s tourism sector – often referring accommodation
bookings on to larger hotels when operating at capacity, or catering on-site for larger functions booking for its
location.”
Mr Dixon said the multiple revenue streams coming from the business ensured that complementary activities could either
be run under one umbrella, or as stand-alone entities.
“The function and dining facilities, along with the strong demand for wedding groups using the chapel on site throughout
the year, ensure a guaranteed demand for the accommodation services,” he said.
“The vines within the grounds were originally planted, and the winery first established, to be self sufficient – with
all pinot noir manufactured under the Huka Falls Resort label consumed on-premise with no need for marketing or
distribution channels.
“However, demand in recent years has far exceeded supply, as the vines are predominantly for aesthetic purposes – making
for a great wedding or function backdrop. Simultaneously, the winery, as a boutique plant, makes for a beautiful
function room backdrop, and subsequent higher revenues have been derived from its operation as a venue rather than as a
manufacturing operation.
“However, with the vine and equipment infrastructure still all intact, it can be reinstated with minimal effort.”’
Huka Falls Resort is zoned ‘low density residential’ – allowing for the potential subdivision and sell off of surplus
land into private ownership. Mr Dixon said the zoning also permitted the addition of more accommodation structures -
either in the existing villa style or as terraced units.
Mr Dixon said the swathe of landscaped gardens and open spaces within Huka Falls Resort allowed for the provision of
such conference team-building activities as clay bird shooting, archery, orienteering and cycling.
“Many of the other accommodation providers in the area simply don’t have the space to enable such activities to take
place, which gives Huka Falls Resort a key point of difference,” he said.
Caption: Up for sale: With accommodation, food and beverage, viticulture and conference/function amenities all on site,
Huka Falls Resort is the Central North Island’s only vertically-integrated hospitality business.
Ends