Talking Point: Kangaroo Bay — five-star hospitality headquarters

FINELY ZHANG: An $80 million project at Kangaroo Bay will be a world-first combination of a hospitality school managed by UTAS and a boutique hotel

VISION: Artist’s impression of the five-star hotel/hospitality training school at Kangaroo Bay, Bellerive, proposed by Chambroad Australia.

THE $80 million Kangaroo Bay development will combine a boutique five-star hotel managed by an international hotel group and a hospitality management school, operated by the University of Tasmania.

The Kangaroo Bay development will be one of the very few hospitality management schools integrated with a global brand hotel group.

Chambroad believes the development will further enhance Tasmania’s increasing profile as a tourism destination and industry leader in niche tourism.

We are especially aware that Kangaroo Bay is one of the most iconic sites in Greater Hobart, with its breathtaking views across the River Derwent to kunanyi/Mt Wellington looming behind.

Kangaroo Bay’s foreshore and walking paths are used by hundreds of people from the Eastern Shore and greater Hobart every day.

The hospitality school will be built alongside the 118-room hotel, both designed by renowned Tasmanian architect firm Circa Morris-Nunn Chau, headed by Robert Morris-Nunn.

Chambroad has a strong cultural tradition in education and community-building and has chosen Tasmania and the international hospitality management school and boutique five-star internationally-branded hotel as its first Australian project.

The project contains a number of firsts, including:

FIRST major development at Kangaroo Bay in the City of Clarence;

WORLD-FIRST combination of a boutique five-star hotel managed by an international hotel group and hospitality management school;

FIRST major economic activation of Kangaroo Bay and Bellerive Quay precinct;

KANGAROO BAY international brand hotel will have five-star accommodation and facilities and a five-star restaurant – a first for the Eastern Shore of Hobart

FIRST UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA operation on the Eastern Shore of Hobart.

The University of Tasmania will operate the Kangaroo Bay hospitality school, delivering diploma, undergraduate and double masters degree education.

The international brand hotel group features boutique hotels, each with its own original design and unique stories to tell.

In this group of boutique hotels, some are historic luxury properties, others are stunningly modern designs, unique in the cities they inhabit. Each hotel is inspired by its own story.

The hotel, like the rest in the group, will tell a story through a carefully selected mix of local dishes and international cuisine served at its restaurants and lounges. Hotel guests will realise the story every day and in every meal, from the signature dish for breakfast to the locally-inspired drinks at the bar.

With major projects subject to sometimes significant change, Chambroad has proposed this timeline for 2020:

MARCH-APRIL: Ongoing design and planning finalisation with Clarence City Council;

APRIL: Construction documentation released;

JUNE-JULY: Site preparation commences;

OCTOBER: Construction of hotel and hospitality management school commences.

University of Tasmania Associate Professor Stuart Crispin, executive dean of the School of Business and Economics, said the school could become one of the country’s standout hospitality management offerings.

He also noted this was an opportunity to meet Tasmania’s need for international standard tertiary studies in tourism through the practical hands-on experience of a hospitality school located in a new combination of school and internationally-branded hotel.

Chambroad is crystal clear that the school will not compete with the courses being offered by the excellent Drysdale Campus, TasTAFE’s hospitality training area.

Chambroad’s aim is to create opportunities for Tasmanian and other interstate students to gain the skills to contribute to the hospitality industry and build international networks so important in the industry with overseas students who will work in leading hotels around the world.

Chambroad’s long-term goal is for the new school to have connections to hotel chains around the world.

Those hotels are now seeking, and will continue to look for and employ, hospitality professionals in a range of skilled areas.

These include hospitality management accountancy, hospitality management design and professionals to both operate hotels and direct the sales and marketing of those establishments.

Chambroad will deliver a project for the City of Clarence which is environmentally friendly, culturally friendly and provide both economic and educational stimulus.

For Clarence, and particularly Bellerive, the prospect of 100-plus students over four semesters onsite every year into the long-term future will be of enormous benefit, economically and socially.

In Tasmania, our aim is to work with government, state and local, to develop the state. We are here to be involved in suitable industries, both educationally and culturally.

One of the reasons Chambroad has come to Tasmania and to Kangaroo Bay, is that our home is in the City of Binzhou in the People’s Republic of China, which has a friendship agreement with the City of Clarence.

Chambroad is here for the long-term to develop projects, relationships and friendship in Tasmania.

Finely Zhang is director and general manager of Chambroad Australia.