EVT checks in for hospitality expansion amid tourism surge

The hospitality heavyweight wants to make running and owning hotels a priority in coming years, as they offer higher returns than cinemas and ski resorts.

EVT wants to make running and owning hotels a priority in coming years, as they offer higher returns than cinemas and ski resorts.

Hospitality giant EVT is shifting its focus onto its hotel portfolio, as it flagged a series of hotel openings, upgrades and potential major developments for its $2.3bn property portfolio.

EVT was recently named the country’s fourth-largest hotel owner after Meriton, Salter Properties and Schwartz, and has ambitions to expand in key markets.

At its annual general meeting, the company’s management noted that hotels were among the top performers in its diversified portfolio, which includes cinemas and Thredbo Resort.

EVT said hotels were its “priority growth segment” and the portfolio had been reshaped over the past few years from a broad collection of ­property assets to focus on hotel properties in key city locations that would support the asset-light growth of its managed hotel portfolio in Australia and internationally.

“In the post-Covid period, over $280m of assets that do not meet the property criteria have been divested at a premium of approximately 28 per cent over the independent valuations of the properties sold,” EVT said. Another $40m of non-core properties have been earmarked for sale.

Meanwhile, the company has been active, and had secured development approval to extend the QT Sydney hotel’s podium, and also had plans for a 43-storey mixed-use hospitality and entertainment development at 525 George Street, Sydney.

“The group is currently considering options to generate the best returns for shareholders and will update the market on the preferred option for the 525 George Street property at the end of this financial year,” EVT said.

The EVT hospitality network has grown to 84 hotels and 12,559 rooms, with the growth underpinned by a new brand strategy that provides hotel solutions covering the entire market, from premium to budget experiences, whether by using one of its owned brands, or by creating an independent brand and leveraging its capabilities.

For many years, Rydges Hotels was the only brand that was used for hotel management opportunities, while Atura and QT Hotels were owned brands that relied on more capital-intensive developments or acquisitions for growth.

A room inside QT Singapore, QT Hotels' first offering outside Australia and New Zealand

Under the new strategy, QT Hotels has expanded with management agreements in Auckland, Newcastle, QT Parramatta, which is expected to open in 2026, and QT Singapore, which recently opened as the first QT outside Australia and New Zealand.

Rydges has grown to 44 properties, including the upgrade and reopening of Rydges Melbourne and the most recent signing of Rydges Ringwood in Melbourne.

Rydges also secured two additional future international agreements; Rydges Resort Wailoaloa Beach in Fiji, which is at the planning stage; and Rydges Tauranga in NZ, which is expected to open in 2027.

Atura, EVT’s affordable lifestyle brand, has also grown through management agreements, including Atura Wellington and Atura Oran Park, a new 184-room hotel in southwest Sydney which is expected to open in 2026.

EVT said the budget end of the accommodation segment was decimated during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, with closures across all major cities, and it used this as an opportunity to enter the segment with hotels closely aligned to the needs of the next generation of travellers.

In 2021, the acquisition of Jucy Snooze pod accommodation was completed, with locations in Christchurch and Queenstown.

This brand has since been re-imagined, leveraging the company’s design and entertainment expertise to create LyLo, a “game-changing” lifestyle budget accommodation experience with hotels now in Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Brisbane, and with Fremantle and Gold Coast in the pipeline.

Pods at LyLo Fortitude Valley. Picture: Liam Kidston

EVT plans to establish LyLo credentials in Australia and New Zealand to then explore opportunities offshore.

The Independent Collection was launched in 2021, and now includes 20 hotels. This brand enables owners to retain their own brand, or EVT can create a brand, and the owner can take advantage of its hotel management expertise.

Three more independent hotels were added in the year ended June 30, including The Old Clare and Harbour Rocks Hotel in Sydney and the Inchcolm in Brisbane. Recently, it added the Alex Hotel in Perth. The hotel development team is expected to continue to pursue new hotel management opportunities, EVT said.