Terrace Downs back in favour
New Zealand’s high country Terrace Downs Resort in Canterbury is back on track under local management after a shaky few years.
Japanese businessman Shinnosuke Saito launched Terrace Downs in 2003 with a focus on golf. He ran it for four years before the resort’s semi-remote location, together with frequent senior management changes, drained its appeal.
“The trade walked away from the product,†said Roger Taitt, the resort’s executive assistant manager, “but now we have turned it around and it has become a true resort for families.
“Golf is still an activity at Terrace Downs but it’s no longer the total focus,†he said.
Terrace Downs, an hour from Christchurch, has created a new day spa to sit alongside other activities such as clay bird shooting, archery, jet boat rides on the Rakaia River and – in winter – heli-taxis to Mt Hutt and seven back country ski fields.
Former Six Senses manager Dilan de Silva is the new GM at Terrace Downs, which has launched a marketing effort to attract the corporate market from Australia.
Taitt said Terrace Downs has offered “new thinking around the five-star experience in New Zealandâ€.
Resort owners Jonny Hendriksen and Tim Williams have received permission to build a 100-room hotel with the idea of designing it as a hunting and fishing lodge.
Ian Jarrett
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