- Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events
Construction has begun on the first hotel development at Melbourne Airport in almost 20 years.
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula together with representatives from Melbourne Airport, Accor Hotels and construction contractor Built today turned the first sod at the site, just a short walk from Terminal Four.
Designed by noted Melbourne architects Fender Katsalidis and with interiors by Woods Bagot, the 10-storey, 464-room hotel complex will support 120 hospitality jobs when it opens in 2021.
Some 450 jobs will be created during construction of the Novotel-Ibis Styles property.
The most recent hotel to be launched at the airport was in 2002, when the Tullamarine terminals processed 15 million passengers a year.
Last financial year more than 37 million passengers passed through Melbourne Airport and the new accommodation will help meet visitor demand that is forecast to continue to grow strongly.
The hotel will form the cornerstone of the airport’s Hive precinct, which will also take in a childcare facility, civic spaces, public artworks and offices ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 square metres.
Victoria’s tourism industry is thriving, with more than 90 million visitors contributing $30 billion to the local economy, and supporting more than 210,000 local jobs, in the year to March.
As at June, Victoria had 37 international airlines flying in and out of Melbourne and Avalon airports – including new flights from Port Vila to Melbourne on Air Vanuatu and Queenstown to Melbourne on Qantas.
Tourism is a key pillar of the state’s prosperity, with the Andrews Labor Government’s Visitor Economy Strategy developed in 2016 on track to meet its target of $36.5 billion in visitor spending by 2025.
Managed by international airport hotel specialist Accor Group, which operates the Novotel and Ibis brands, the new Melbourne Airport hotel complex will also incorporate a gym and pool facilities, cafe, bar, restaurant and conference rooms.
As stated by Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula
“Our visitor economy is growing at a rapid rate and Melbourne Airport is the gateway for so many of our domestic and international guests.”
“It’s great to get a start on this project which will add to the ever-improving experience of the hundreds of thousands of people who use the airport for business and pleasure each week.”
As stated by Melbourne Airport chief of property Linc Horton
“Air travel to and from Melbourne is booming with forecasts predicting the airport will service almost 70 million people a year by 2038 – that’s why developments like this new Novotel-Ibis Styles hotel are so important.”
