Pullman Nadi Bay resort is on the foreshore of Wailoaloa Beach. Photo / Supplied
Fiji's newest five-star luxury resort, on idyllic Wailoaloa Beach, near Nadi, is on the market for the first time.
The Pullman Nadi Bay Resort and Spa Fiji is being sold through Colliers International and local agents My Island Home Fiji by way of international expressions of interest closing at 4pm (NZST) on Wednesday July 31.
The marquee resort has 236 beautifully appointed guest rooms, five restaurants and bars, multiple conference facilities, three swimming pools and a world-class health spa.
Pullman Nadi Bay opened in May 2019 and is managed by global operator Accor Hospitality, the largest operator in Asia Pacific.
Located on 5.78ha of the foreshore of Wailoaloa Beach, it is ideally situated to take advantage of Fiji's ongoing tourism boom, being the closest five-star hotel to the recently upgraded Nadi International Airport.
Dean Humphries, Colliers' national director of hotels for New Zealand and the South Pacific, says it is rare for a resort to be offered to the market so soon after opening.
"The owners of the resort, a large and established Fiji-based family, have spent the last four years developing the hotel," he said.
"However, they have decided to sell this marquee asset to capitalise on Fiji's strong tourism sector and a global investment market hungry for high-quality, high-yielding hospitality assets."
Richard Kirke, sales director of Colliers's capitals markets team, is confident international investors will be attracted to Fiji due to the strong growth profile and attractive underlying returns it offers.
Kirke says that with hotel assets in most developed countries now demanding historically low yields, investors are searching for locations that can provide attractive returns and a strong growth profile.
"In the recent past we have seen a range of institutions, sovereign wealth and private equity funds investing heavily into tourism hotspots such as Maldives, Thailand, Vietnam, Tahiti and the eastern seaboard of Australia.
"Fiji, as a prime tourism destination, ticks all the boxes and is a country we believe will interest many of these parties."
Gus Moors, head of hotels for Colliers International Australia, says Fiji also has a highly attractive exchange rate at just 0.46 against the US dollar and 0.66 against the Australian dollar.
"Fiji has always been the star performer in the South Pacific basin, accounting for 41 per cent of all international visitors in the region.
"Inbound arrivals for the year ending 2018 reached 870,000, representing an annual growth rate of 5.6 per cent since 2014.
"The key markets segments are Australians (43 per cent), New Zealanders (22 per cent) and the United States (10 per cent).
"It is forecast Fiji will reach 1 million international tourists by 2023. The Fijian Government has estimated the tourism industry to be a FJ$2 billion industry by the end of 2020."
Humphries notes that Pullman Nadi Bay is ideally located to take advantage of all of the above macro and micro aspects of the global tourism boom and strong Fijian fundamentals.
He points to the key attributes Pullman Nadi Bay offers to potential investors as summarised below:
Macro factors
• Global tourism boom: About 1.4 billion people travelled the world in 2018, well above forecast levels.
• Fiji is the strongest tourism destination in the South Pacific, estimated to reach 1m visitors by 2023.
• Fiji has a stable economy and attractive exchange rate.
• Attractive investment yields/returns (leveraged yield/IRR 12 per cent to 20 per cent)
Pullman Nadi Bay Resort and Spa
• Accessibility: It is the closet five-star hotel to the airport and just minutes to Nadi town centre and Port Denarau.
• It has a strategic location on 5.78ha of land, including 220m of prime beachfront on Wailoaloa Beach with a westerly aspect.
• A new five-star hotel with 236 rooms, five restaurants and bars, three conferencing rooms for up to 1000 delegates, health spa, and three swimming pools
• Optimal interior design with all guest rooms having 'charming' views of Wailoaloa Beach close to all the resort's amenities.
• Managed by global hotel operator Accor Hospitality, the largest hotel operator in the Asia Pacific region.
• Tenure: Crown lease with ground rental linked to hotel performance.
• Close to Nadi, the second largest urban population centre in Fiji with access to a large labour pool and to a wider range of products and services.
• Surplus land (circa 1.9ha) consented for future expansion.