Beechers Ski Lodge changes hands

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 278, 14 March 1989, Page 3

Beechers Ski Lodge changes hands

Turoa's Beechers Ski Lodge has been bought by Rangiwai tourism developer Harvey Bell's company.

Mr Bell has renamed the Turoa Alpine Village lodge "The Highland Lodge" and plans to sell shares in the lodge using a new form of holiday ownership called "Flexitime". "Flexitime allows The Highland Lodge owners to join an international timeshare exchange company called Interval Interna-

tional, which has over 500 resorts throughout the world available for exchanging," said Mr Bell. He says the Highland Lodge will continue to offer the luxury accommodation for which it was first built and that there would be an emphasis on quality home cooking, with locally grown vegetables as well as meat

through his family's farming interests. Mr Bell is involved with the development of The Hamlet resort in Ohakune, which is on hold at present. In promoting the lodge Mr Bell will be promoting the area he calls the Central Highlands. He says the region is unique in that it is within half a day's drive of 70 per cent of the country's population and offers "a host of recreational activities, a variety of

scenery and numerous farming types". "The total experience offered by the area is the image the Meat and Dairy boards have used to sell New Zealand produce overseas for many years and it is this international perception of the country we wish to capitalise on," said Mr Bell. He said the lodge will provide a base for a packaged "recreational holiday" tour operation and that he has com-

missioned a marketing video which will show the area's attributes. The video will be shown at a conference on recreational tourism in Alaska in May. "We intend using this opportunity (in Alaska) to increase awareness of New Zealand as a recreational holiday destination as well as seeking overseas investment in what we are proposing, in the absence of any New Zealand (business) interest," said Mr Bell. Mr Bell sees the marketing of the Highland Lodge as a community project in that it will give the area an opportunity to show the rest of New Zealand that there is something happening in this area. "Ohakune and the surrounding area is far more than just a ski resort," says Mr Bell. "Because of its proximity to the key domestic markets it has unique possibilities for being the premier recreational resort in New Zealand." He said the promotion video will be available to locals to show to their friends and acquaintantes, and that there would be a 2.5 per cent introduction commission for successful lodge saies resulting from introductions from locals.