Last night, Olympic gold medallist, Kerri Pottharst joined the Federal Member for North Sydney, Trent Zimmerman MP to officially open the newest addition to the Quest Apartment Hotels network, Quest St Leonards at 10 Atchison Street in the lower North Shore suburb.
Quest General Manager – Brand, Tony Gauci and Quest St Leonards Franchisees, Brent Howard and Ann Crowhurst joined Ms Pottharst and Trent Zimmerman MP to celebrate the grand opening with a cocktail party held at the brand new property.
Mr Gauci was delighted to officially open Quest St Leonards, placing emphasis on Quest’s confidence in the Sydney market during his address to guests.
“Sydney continues to be the preferred destination for all visitor types – domestic or international, leisure or business. Sydney’s occupancy rates are forecast to continue exceeding expectations, usually at around 90%, with robust growth in room rate revenue,” said Mr Gauci.
“Now is the time for Quest to be solidifying our presence in the NSW capital as demand for Quest’s unique, premium quality accommodation continues to surge. It gives me great pleasure to officially open Quest St Leonards tonight and thank Mr Zimmerman and Kerri Pottharst for sharing this momentous occasion with us.”
Mr Zimmerman welcomed the opening of the Quest St Leonards, following recent figures showing Australia’s tourism industry grew to a record $94.5 billion in 2015, on the back of strong growth in both international and domestic visitor numbers. “The Government is working hard to diversify our economy and strengthen our tourism industry right across Australia.”
Quest St Leonards Franchisees, Brent Howard and Ann Crowhurst were thrilled to officially open the property, honoured to be standing alongside Mr Zimmerman and Ms Pottharst. Mr Howard joined Quest from successfully establishing and operating two Grill’d burger restaurants in Melbourne over eight years.
Prior to Grill’d, Brent spent the majority of his career as a procurement manager, working in the transport and logistics, travel, mining and construction sectors.
“It is an exciting time to open an apartment hotel in St Leonards as we see the local area thrive and truly come into its own as a highly sought after business district,” said Mr Howard.
“I am honoured to stand alongside Tony Gauci, Trent Zimmerman, Kerri Pottharst and my wife and business partner, Ann to officially open the property this evening, celebrating an exciting, challenging and above all rewarding few months of operation. I cannot thank the team here at Quest St Leonards enough for their dedication to ensuring our success and delivering on the Quest promise for premium quality accommodation and service.”
2016 continues to be an exciting year of growth for Quest Apartment Hotels across Australasia, opening in 11 new locations, including: West Perth, Mounts Bay Road, East Perth and Fremantle (WA); Chatswood, Newcastle West, Bella Vista and Macquarie Park (NSW); Port Adelaide (SA); Dandenong Central (VIC); and Petone (New Zealand).