New hotel shows strength of city’s booming tourism industry

Premier Peter Gutwein has toured the site of Hobart’s new six-star Marriot hotel, which is on track for its 2020 completion date.

Stephen Morahan general manager The Tasman and Barney Phillips of Citta. Premier Peter Gutwein tours the Parliament Square Project in Hobart. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

ATTRACTING a major upmarket hotel brand to the Parliament Square development was a sign of Hobart’s strength as a tourism destination, Premier Peter Gutwein says.

Touring the construction site on Monday, Mr Gutwein said the 152-room 6-star Marriot Luxury collection hotel, which is slated to open later this year, would be a welcome addition to the city’s accommodation offerings.

“In terms of hotels, we’ve got a fantastic story to tell,” he said. “Here at Parliament Square, an investment of around $200 million has been made.”

“Importantly, what we’re seeing is the Marriott Luxury Collection, The Tasman, on track to be finished by the end of 2020.

“This building site employs about 200 people on a daily basis and importantly, the new hotel will employ around 130 people once complete.”

Parliament sq new hotel

Artist's impression of the entry to the new Marriott hotel in Parliament Square in Hobart. Picture: SUPPLIED.

Mr Gutwein said there was around 1000 hotel rooms being opened in Hobart over the next 12 to 18 months.

Marriot Luxury Collection general manager Stephen Morahan said the hotel was the first of its brand to open in the Australia-New Zealand region.

“I think it’ll look amazing. It’ll be a lot of energy, a lot of hustle and bustle, a lot of people coming to see what this brand is about,” he said.

Premier Peter Gutwein tours the Parliament Square Project in Hobart. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

“This hotel, particularly the food and beverage offering, has been designed to work with the local community first, and to cater to our hotel guests and other guests coming to the site as a secondary option because we really wanted to have a product that represents Hobart and Tasmania.”

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Parliament construction manager Barney Phillips said it was good to see the project coming closer to completion.

“We have here more than 60,000 square meters of office space, 152 rooms, 186 car parks, restaurants and so on so it’s quite a complex project,” he told reporters.

“This building took a long time to get the design right because it’s so complicated.

“The 40 suites in the sandstone building are nearly all different, so every one’s got an individual design.

“We’ve got thousands and thousands of drawings and it does take a lot of time to get that right, but now we’re at the stage where the air-conditioning’s going in, the wiring is going in, the plumbing is already in, the glass is in and the roof is on, so we’re on the home straight.”

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