About the Award

The HICAP Australia New Zealand (HICAP ANZ) Development of the Year Award recognizes a newly built, redeveloped, or repositioned (after significant product renovations and/or enhancements) hotel that opened, reopened, or completed their repositioning in Australia or New Zealand between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023. Development nominations are reviewed by the HICAP ANZ Development of the Year Award Committee according to specific ranking criteria to determine the three finalists. The finalist information is then reviewed and voted on by delegates of HICAP ANZ to determine the winner, who will be announced at the conference on 31 August 2023. The nomination deadline is Friday, 28 July 2023.

Ranking Criteria

All nominees should note that judges will give a rating to every question and each rating will count towards your total points. Accordingly, each nominee is encouraged to answer each and every question as comprehensively as possible.

Nominations are reviewed according to the following criteria:

• Pioneering: Was the project developed in a new market or pioneering destination?
• Cost: What was the total development cost?
• Size: What was the total number of rooms?
• Project Complexity: How many uses were developed (e.g. stand-alone vs. mixed-use)?
• Timeliness: Was the project completed on time?
• Project Budget: Was the project completed on budget?
• Economic Impact and Sustainability Initiatives: How many direct jobs were created? Were there any identifiable sustainability efforts/initiatives implemented?
• Innovative Design: Were there any creative/unique design elements implemented?
• Public Relations: What has been heard about the project? What was the level of anticipation for its opening?