WATCH ABOVE: A new study done for the Downtown Business Association finds the growing core needs more hotels. Fletcher Kent reports.
EDMONTON – A new report on downtown Edmonton hotels suggests there’s a lot of room for the industry’s growth in the city’s core.
The Downtown Business Association report indicates growth in downtown is creating a desperate need for more hotels in the area.
“We are Canada’s fastest growing city when it comes to the economy, so at that point we’re going to have people visiting the city, we’re going to have people coming to work in the city, so we need to provide them with the services they need,” said Khedija Hentati, report author.
“We’re going to see a whole lot more people on the street, there’s going to be a whole lot more attractions in the downtown, so we better be proactive with hotel service for that,” added Jim Taylor, Downtown Business Association.
A new hotel hasn’t opened in the city’s core since 1978. That’ll change with the openings of the Hyatt Place Hotel and a new luxury hotel next to the Rogers Place Arena, with both under construction. However, the report points out there’s room for 15 to 20 more downtown hotels.
“If we want to put ourselves at the same level as the biggest cities, yeah, we need to go,” said Hentati.
A statistic in the report shows Toronto has 60 per cent of its hotels in downtown, while Edmonton’s downtown is home to just 18 per cent of its total hotels.
The report also shows more hotels will mean a boost to the economy. Taylor doesn’t believe the present economic uncertainty in Alberta should have an impact on the development of downtown hotels.
“We have some 21 projects, major projects, underway, with cranes in the sky in downtown, and none of them are oil and gas related. All of them are going ahead. None of them are in jeopardy of being stopped,” said Taylor.
“What I hear from my board members, who are all big downtown business people, is that things are going just fine in downtown.”
The report indicates three-quarters of Edmonton visitors don’t stay in its core partially because hotels are showing their age.