Australian wellness franchise City Cave has made its New Zealand debut with its first international centre in Queenstown.

Located at the Remarkables Park Town Centre, the City Cave Queenstown houses three private saunas, three private float rooms, and three massage rooms. The centre also features open pools, which are designed in house and made in Australia.

“We have noticed an increase in popularity in floatation therapy, infrared sauna, and massage across the ditch and are projecting for our brand to follow the same successful trajectory in New Zealand that we have seen here in Australia over the past five years,” said Tim Butters, co-founder and director of City Cave Float & Wellness Centre.

The New Zealand branch is owned by Luke Hutchinson and Riki Hunter.

“It feels like we’ve been working on it forever but in reality we’ve been able to bring this to market in roughly eight months, which is quite amazing considering most of our training and guidance has been completed over zoom due to the pandemic,” said Hunter.

Launched in 2016, City Cave Float & Wellness Centre operates 17 branches across Australia and New Zealand. Until June, the brand aims to roll out 20 new centres across Australia, including Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Sydney and Melbourne.