The IKEA for hotels: hospitality's new innovation centre
Saturday, 7 February 2026
New Zealand hotels need to up their game to compete globally as the Government pushes tourism growth, a hospitality supplies expert says.
That’s why his company, Astro Hospitality, has opened the country’s first-of-its-kind innovation centre in Auckland to support the hotel and hospitality industry to take their offering to the next level.
Astro Hospitality, a New Zealand family owned business, is a leading supplier of hotel and hospitality products, and its new centre is a purpose-built environment with hotel showrooms, and food-service and product displays.
The centre’s point of difference is that hotel owners, operators and design teams can physically use the various spaces to design, model and trial different styles, concepts, and combinations of products.
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Reuben Beatson, the company’s managing director, says the goal is to help the industry bring quality concepts to life - and that’s something that is needed.
Tourism has long been one of the country’s biggest export earners, but the government sees it as an economic driver and wants to boost its numbers further.
It has led to a series of policies and initiatives designed to attract more international visitors, including the introduction of the Michelin Guide to New Zealand for the first time. At the same time, the long-awaited NZ International Convention Centre in Auckland will open on February 11.
Tourism NZ estimates the Michelin Guide will attract 36,000 more international visitors annually, while the NZICC is expected to draw 33,000 international visitors each year.
Beatson says the industry is on the cusp of great growth, but many of the new visitors will have high expectations, so hotels will have to take their offering to the next level.
New Zealand has some way to go to meet global hotel accommodation standards, particularly at the luxury end of the market, he says.
“Progress is being made, and the standard has improved significantly. It’s noticeable in Auckland where there’s been a big increase in new hotels and international brands.
“But there is further to go, especially in the regions or with older hotels which are facing competition from new hotels, and it’s important because international visitors do take these things into account, and luxury visitors will pay for high quality.”
It is a challenge, but - just like any business - hotels need to evolve to keep in the game, and his company wants to help by showcasing global trends and concepts, and products, he says.
The two-level centre sits at the front of the Blenheim-based company’s new 3500 m² North Island Distribution Centre in Wiri in South Auckland.
On the ground floor there are four fully styled hotel showrooms that range from five-star luxury to lifestyle hotel, and allow customers to see products as they would appear in a real property.
The second level has product displays, including a food-service display, and a “lather lab” for bathroom products, while the distribution centre has thousands of products from bedside to food and beverage to back-of-house.
Each showroom models how products scale across categories, and can be booked as working design space to create mock-up rooms, test product combinations or trial refurbishment concepts using items from the displays.
It allows hotel owners, operators, and designers to experience products in situ, explore global trends, and experiment and collaborate on ways to improve the guest experience, Beatson says.
“But it also makes decision-making faster and more efficient because trying to make decisions based on catalogues and websites is hard. It’s far easier to come and see different styles brought to life in context.”
New Zealand may be a small country, but its hospitality experiences should always feel world-class, and Astro’s goal is to help hotels and restaurants exceed guest expectations and create experiences guests will remember, he says.
“A hotel visit these days revolves around storytelling. If you go to a hotel, yes - you can just sleep in it, but what you remember are the special touches and moments.
“Furnishings and products help to tell the hotel’s story, emphasise its brand, and make it stand out, and the storytelling needs to run through the hotel to really elevate the experience on offer.”
The centre opened in December, and the industry response has been good, with solid bookings and groups regularly coming in for up to three hours, Beatson says.
One group was from Hotel Britomart in Auckland, and a LinkedIn comment from one of the group captures the intent.
“I couldn’t help but think: IKEA, but next level,” they said. “Bigger thinking, better execution, and designed with hospitality front of mind. There’s nothing like this in New Zealand.'
For Hotel Council Aotearoa strategic director James Doolan, the centre will be a valuable resource for hoteliers developing new hotels or renovating old ones, and its opening is “excellent timing”.
As international travellers return to New Zealand in greater volumes, more and more hotels will enter renovation cycles, he says.
“A lot of that work has been delayed due to Covid, but as customers return, compression will kick in and people will again want new, fresh, on trend things.
“Hotels are always a complex asset in New Zealand, so the opening of a centre like this shows great confidence in the market for developing or renovating hotels. This will make the job easier and lead to better outcomes.”
Doolan says the new facility comes at a time when after many false dawns there is optimism tourism is approaching an upcycle, and that this winter will be better than last.
There are signs the industry is past the bottom of the performance cycle, international visitor numbers are not far away from getting above pre-Covid levels, and in Auckland the NZICC is finally opening, he says.
“But we still have some way to go before we are back at ‘ordinary’ levels of performance for hotels when it comes to revenue per room, average daily rate and occupancy rate - particularly in Auckland.”
Doolan acknowledges the Minister of Tourism’s support for demand driver activity over the last year, and says it is helping to boost visitor numbers.
But he also challenges the government to continue that support with strong ongoing funding for Tourism NZ and a continued focus on event attraction and destination marketing.