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Ramada VetroBlu Scarborough Beach hotel opens amid Perth’s lowest occupancy rates in years

Kate LeaverStirling Times

A $50 million Scarborough hotel has recently opened its doors despite one of Perth’s lowest level hotel occupancy rates in seven years.

The 52-apartment Ramada VetroBlu Scarborough Beach hotel opened to guests on August 16 while works for the $100 million foreshore redevelopment are still in progress.

The hotel includes 52 apartments ranging from one bedroom to penthouses with 180-degree views and is located 100m from Scarborough beach on Filburn Street.

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Its opening comes as the State Government launches a new $2 million tourism campaign ahead of the Budget to help fill Perth’s empty hotel rooms.

A downturn in business travel, coupled with more hotels coming into the market, saw hotel occupancy rates in June hit 75.6 per cent, one of the lowest levels in seven years.

Since 2012, an extra 1611 hotel rooms have been added to the Perth CBD hotel stock including Crown Towers, Peppers Kings Square, Tribe Hotel, Fraser Suites, and Quest Adelaide Terrace.

Another 1851 rooms are scheduled to open by 2020.

Tourism WA will work with its co-operative marketing partners – including airlines, travel agents and travel websites – to offer incentives for people to travel now and take advantage of the choice of hotels at reasonable rates.

Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said the hotel sector was “hurting”.

“We need to focus on direct campaigns that drive visitation to fill planes, get visitors to Perth and fill our hotel rooms,” he said.

“This campaign will target markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, China, Sydney and Melbourne, where we know people are open to making the decision to travel at short notice.”

A Wyndham Hotel Group spokeswoman said the location of the hotel “puts it in a prime position to take advantage of the $100 million Scarborough redevelopment”.

Wyndham Hotel Group South East Asia and Pacific Rim managing director Barry Robinson said Perth’s position on the west coast made it an important gateway city.

“We are very pleased to add this Perth beachside destination to the Ramada collection,” he said.

“Scarborough’s reputation as Perth’s best beach makes Ramada VetroBlu Scarborough Beach an ideal choice for both leisure and business travellers.”

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