A proposal to develop a conference centre in Canmore would aim to drive hotel occupancy during the slowest months in town.
Canmore Business and Tourism’s Andrew Nickerson said a conference centre would benefit the economy as a whole, but more information is needed before a decision can be made.
Nickerson was in front of council earlier this month to request $50,000 from the economic development reserve to move forward with a market assessment and financial feasibility study.
“We identified (a conference centre) as a key component of our strategic plan and it also aligns with the Town’s own policy to have a vibrant downtown as essential to the social, cultural and economic health of the community,” Nickerson said. “In terms of Canmore Business and Tourism and us actually leading things, we are looking at building a business case for a conference centre here.”
He said it is not the intention of CBT to build an actual conference centre if one is found to be feasible for the community, but drive the process through the next steps to ensure the right facility gets built if council approved the request.
On average, Canmore’s hotel rooms operate at 50 per cent occupancy on an annual basis. In 2012, there were 416,000 empty room nights representing 48 per cent of the total room stock (2,300 room). Hotels were 76 per cent occupied during the busy summer moths of July to September versus 44 per cent from September to June. Each occupied hotel room also represents $400 to $500 in spending in the community.
Nickerson said meetings and convention travel typically occur during those slower months and mid-week – which represents a clear area of economic development for the community.
“This is about driving the expansion and diversification of the economy,” he said. “We are looking to the existing hotel rooms for sure. We are looking to drive that shoulder season and mid-week business. We are looking to feed visitors into the downtown core and we see this as a mechanism to do so.”
Nickerson presented a report prepared by Deloitte from consultations done earlier this year with municipal officials and CBT representatives, developers and hoteliers, and conference/convention centre market specialists.
The report found there was broad agreement on the potential benefits of a conference centre to offset slower periods in tourism and increase economic activity for hotels and the downtown core. Most participants in the consultation stated there is potential to attract conference business to Canmore, while some said Canmore may already be losing out on conference business due to the absence of a larger conference centre than the Radisson, which is currently the largest space in town and can hold approximately 350 to 400 people.
“Where we are looking to go now and the ask we have in front of council is funding to do the market analysis and feasibility around this,” Nickerson said. “From here we look to develop a formal business case around this conference centre and finally implementation.”
He added at some point, CBT will step away from the process to allow a private, public or P3 (public and private) group to take over development.
“There was broad agreement from everybody there is opportunity, but there is a need for further analysis to drive this forward,” he said.
The feasibility study will be conducted in two parts, the first looking at the business case. Nickerson said if there is not a business case made in the market analysis, “then we would put a halt on the proceedings at that stage and go no further.”
