Federal Hotels

The Federal Group owns and operates tourism and gambling businesses in Tasmania. It is also known as either Federal Hotels, or Federal Hotels and Resorts on websites.

Operations
The Federal Group runs both Tasmanian casinos:
 * Wrest Point Hotel Casino in Sandy Bay, Hobart;
 * Country Club Casino in Prospect, Launceston - Golf course and small casino.

It also runs the
 * Strahan Village, Strahan,
 * Freycinet Lodge, Coles Bay
 * Cradle Mountain Chateau
 * West Coast Wilderness Railway between Strahan and Queenstown, was taken over after 2002.

Gambling
In 2003 the Federal Group was granted monopoly rights to own and operate 3680 poker machines until 2018 conditional on building a luxury tourism resort. However, since 2004 federal Hotels delayed the construction of the resort three times. Following questions from the leader of the Tasmanian Liberal Party, Will Hodgeman, about whether the government had taken legal advice, Federal Hotels and its supporters - the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), the Australian Hotels Association and the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania - defended the company. This led to former Liberal party leader, Rene Hidding, stating that "there's a feeling of intimidation in Tasmania that you can't possibly go out and call for accountability".

"I would say to Damon Thomas [the TCCI CEO] that it is all very well to take instructions but check with your membership first," he said.

Personnel

 * Brendan Blomeley, Corporate Affairs Manager

Contact details
Website: http://www.federalresorts.com.au