The American owner of the Scenic Hotel Group, Earl Hagaman, died at his Christchurch home today.

Hagaman bought his first hotel in Franz Josef in 1980 with partner Ralph Brown.

Nowadays the company owns a dozen hotels in New Zealand - including Dunedin's Southern Cross - and employs over a thousand staff.

Recently, Hagaman was involved in a defamation case against Labour Party leader Andrew Little.

He was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2014 in recognition of his services to business, tourism and philanthropy.