Skyline's got its finger on the pulse

Skyline Rotorua cleaned up at the Westpac Rotorua Business Awards. Photo / Ben Fraser

Skyline Rotorua's general manager Bruce Thomasen puts the company's wins at this year's Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards down to its commitment to investing in innovation.

"We're really proud and pleased that the commitment to improve our business and put in place better systems and processes has resulted in growing the business," he said. "But to get recognition from our industry peers in the local business awards is just fantastic."

Mr Thomasen said it was the first time Skyline had entered the Rotorua awards for some years. The impetus came from the successful progress on its five-year plan, initiated in 2011-12, he said. Revenues from local operations had grown by 60 per cent within three years, two years ahead of target.

"We set some pretty aggressive goals," he said. "And we achieved everything within three years so our emphasis has shifted from implementing our new systems. We felt it was appropriate to go through a process that makes you rethink what you're doing and measure your results, based on the awards criteria. It's a nice way to keep your finger on the pulse of the business."

The privately held Skyline Group, which is on the NZ Unlisted Exchange, encompasses not only Rotorua, but also operations and investments in Queenstown, Christchurch, Dunedin and three offshore Luge operations.

Skyline Rotorua has invested significant amounts in recent years to developing its facilities, including $2 million on refurbishing its Stratosfare Restaurant, its new 120sq m Jelly Belly Shop, redeveloping its cafe into a market-kitchen style food operation, and partnerships with Volcanic Hills Winery and the operators of the Zoom Zip Line 400m high-tech flying fox.

Mr Thomasen said one of the key developments had been securing $225,000 from the government's Tourism Growth Partnership Fund to develop its mountain bike trails.

Along with investment from Skyline which brought the total commitment to more than $500,000, the company had developed specific trails for international events.

"We needed extra support to develop trails that could win international events," he said.

That paid off big time when Rotorua won the rights to host high-profile international mountain-biking event Crankworx.

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, the key judge for the Skyline submission, said the company had worked hard to ensure everyone had a memorable experience in any of its top-line attractions.

"A few years ago, Skyline decided they wanted to be a total family experience, not just a visitor destination. They are always in continuous improvement mode."

In their summing up, the judges said the business had gone from strength to strength over the past year.

-Over the coming weeks, we will profile all the category winners from the 2015 Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards.

Winning results

At the Westpac Rotorua Business Awards, Skyline Rotorua won:

Westpac Supreme Award

Rotorua Monthly Visitor Guide Hospitality and Attractions Business Award

AMI Insurance Social Responsibility Award.

This year Skyline has also won the Air New Zealand Supreme Tourism Industry association Award, the Rotorua Hospitality Awards, and the NZChef National Salon Award.