The Crockett Group
TOURISM ■ PROPERTY ■ INVESTMENT
Our website is in the process of re-construction, so for those of you who don’t know who we are, or what we do, we’re sorry but you will need to wait a bit longer to find out!
What we can briefly tell you here though, is that we were established in 1979 by our owner Garry Crockett and are still going strong.
Tourism Accommodation
Where our journey began
Starting out with a single tourism hotel asset in the World Heritage Listed Blue Mountains west of Sydney, we initially focused on the tourism and hospitality sector.
Before long we were being regarded as “the go to people” for advice in this sector - having developed considerable expertise as hands on operators - coupled with an understanding of the sociology and economics that underpinned the then emerging tourism boom that started in Australia from the early 1980s.
We were initially engaged by valuers, individuals, corporations and government to provide consulting services for major studies around tourism attractions, hotel and tourism accommodation development. Before long we found ourselves assisting governments in the development of their tourism policies. One notable example was our involvement in the development of Victoria’s Nature Based Tourism Strategy.
Garry Crockett, was the acknowledged expert and driving force behind this. Garry’s considerable achievements over the past more than 40 years, have been acknowledged with a string of awards including:
- NSW Tourism Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual
- Accommodation Industry Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual for the development of the tourism accommodation sector in Australia, and
- Tourism Training Australia Platinum Tourism Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual
Mr Crockett was a Founding Director & past President of what is now Blue Mountains Tourism, and a former Chairman of Blue Mountains College of TAFE. He was invited to join the Board of the Motor Inn & Motel Association in 1992 following his leadership of the accommodation sector’s fierce opposition to the then marketing direction of the NSW Government’s Tourism Commission – the government agency responsible for the marketing and promotion of the state of New South Wales.
This appointment was the catalyst for a very close involvement by Mr Crockett in a wide range of predominately honorary roles over more than 22 years in Australia’s broader tourism industry.
Foreseeing the many changes ahead in the late 1990’s, Mr Crockett led the industry to the establishment in 2000 of a new and more representative organisation - the Hotel, Motel and Accommodation Australia (HMAA) of which he was a Founding Director & President. As the tourism industry continued to change at a great pace, HMAA morphed into an even stronger and united industry voice with the launch of the Accommodation Association of Australia (AAoA). Read more.
AAoA brought the major international hotel brands into the fold which, when combined with the Association’s existing membership base of boutique hotels, motels, tourist parks, farm stays, B&B’s and independent hotel chains, cemented the Association as the nation’s peak industry representative body. Garry Crockett led these changes and was elected by members as the inaugural National President of the Accommodation Association of Australia, an honorary role he filled for 14 years until he stepped down in 2014 to focus on his international role as Chair of China Ready & Accredited and China Ready Group. Read more. Mr Crockett played a key role in bringing a unified tourism industry voice to local, state and federal governments. Read more. He has served on numerous government committees and industry boards over the years and has worked closely with both federal and state government ministers in Australia.
Property Development
Where our journey began
Garry Crockett had been providing consulting services from the mid 1980s to one of the three Japanese financial partners involved in the planning and development of the Fairmont Resort at Leura. Sitting alongside the Japanese shareholders at the opening of the Resort in August, 1988, Mr Crockett was surprised to learn of their disappointment about the project. What should have been a happy time for them had been marred by delays, cost overruns and construction difficulties.
Garry was interested to learn that for some years prior to 1988 the Japanese shareholders had been making considerable profits in developing residential apartments in Sydney, and that they regarded their tourism investment in Fairmont as being below par.
Keen to learn, Garry went from being the tourism consultant, to consulting his Japanese clients about how to develop property.
Having grown up in the Sutherland Shire (South of Sydney) Garry selected a site at Miranda, an area well known to him from his childhood. It was a relatively large site containing a building formerly owned by the Sharks Sutherland Shire Soccer Club. His next step was to have plans drawn up for a 3-story x 33-unit residential apartment development with underground parking. With a Development Approval received from Sutherland Council and a local builder in tow, the project was launched during the 1992 ‘recession we had to have’. It was an immediate success and sold quickly – even in the midst of a severe economic recession.
The success of this initial project verified what Garry had learnt from his Japanese friends so the hunt was now on for the next site!
Over the ensuing years Crockett Group companies developed residential apartment buildings across the Sutherland Shire including Caringbah, Cronulla, Kirrawee and many at Miranda.
The Group then moved across the river to the St George area where it became involved in developing industrial, mixed use and residential towers in Allawah, Carlton and Hurstville as well as at Alexandria in the Botany Council Area.
The Group’s latest involvement is in a circa 200-unit residential mixed-use development at Arncliffe near Sydney Airport.
As well as having maintained a steady stream of developments in the Sydney metropolitan area, the Group has been active in Victoria’s Yarra Valley and the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.
In Leura, we developed the Blue Mountains’ first community titled gated land subdivision known as ‘Leura Springs ‘. The estate offers some of the most prestigious real estate in the mountains.
In Wentworth Falls we developed a luxury townhouse development opposite Myoori Park – the highly sought after blue-ribbon location of Wentworth Falls.
These are in addition to the many properties the Group has renovated and sold in Wentworth Falls, Leura and Katoomba over the years.
Consulting
In recent years The Crockett Group team has stepped back from tourism consulting. However Garry Crockett has maintained his passion for continued learning and personal evolution. He continues to provide consulting and business management advice (along with personal mentoring) through the ‘ Born to Lead’ network and networks of accounting and financial advisors. Read more.
Where are we now?
March 2022 saw the Group exit two of its primary Blue Mountains tourism assets following an unexpected off market sale to Illawarra Catholic Club (ICC Group). Read more.
It was a difficult decision to sell the historical 4.5-star Hotel Mountain Heritage, Katoomba after 43 years of ownership and the decades long ownership (and development) of the 4.5 star Falls Mountain Retreat at Wentworth Falls.
However we considered both properties were ready for a new layer of history and value addition, and The ICC Group was the perfect custodian to achieve this through their focus on creating positive guest experiences, service to the community and commitment to their members and staff.
What Next?
You will have to wait until completion of our new website to find out!
Those of you who have had dealings with us over the last 40 plus years already know who to contact in the Group via their existing mobile numbers and email addresses. These have not changed. If you have not had prior dealings with us and wish to make contact, please email: info@thecrockettgroup.com.au
After a tumultuous 3 years of bushfires, COVID-19 and flooding (and now the invasion of Ukraine by Russia) we hope these unprecedented series of events will give way to whatever the ‘new normal’ is to be.
Let us hope it is founded in peace, positive relationships, economic prosperity and healthy living!