By Katya Diakow
Lack of convention space in Ottawa is forcing some hotels to consider expanding to meet demands and keep business dollars in the downtown core.
Demand for meeting space has forced some Ottawa hotels like the Lord Elgin Hotel to renovate. In the next few months, the hotel will add 159 rooms and a new 3000 sq. foot room for meetings, conferences and conventions.
“There’s more demand now for convention space in the region. In order to meet these needs for larger meeting spaces, there has to be expansion,” says Nicole Lalonde, the Lord Elgin’s director of sales.
Representatives at the Chateau Laurier agree that something has to be done.
Deneen Parrin, public relations director, says they are currently conducting a market feasibility study for expansion.
She says there is little availability in the city and more space is definitely needed, especially considering that so many national associations and government corporations are based in Ottawa.
The convention problem is having an adverse effect on Ottawa’s business community.
“We’ve already had to turn down large groups,” says David Hamilton, president of the Ottawa Congress Centre.
“Take Nortel, for example. When you consider that it’s one of the largest corporations in the city and its home office in based here in the capital… they had to look outside Ottawa to find enough room for their event.”
This situation is becoming more common.
According to a study released several months ago, a lack of adequate facilities is costing the national capital region $85 million a year in lost convention business.
Hamilton says that several groups looking for convention space have been turned down solely because there is not enough room.
“There is absolutely no question in my mind that there is an immediate need for convention space in downtown Ottawa. And 99 per cent of businesses like that location for the proximity of things like hotels, restaurants and shopping,” he says. “There are several associations and local corporate businesses that cannot have their needs met here.”
Hamilton says the Tim Hortons convention held in Ottawa two months ago is an example of the problem. The company made special accommodations to keep its numbers small so that the city could support its meetings.
Hamilton says he estimates the group brought in a considerable amount of money but will probably have to look elsewhere to host its function next year.
With the expansion of the Casino de Hull, corporations and associations might be drawn to look outside the city to find room.
The casino is looking to spend almost $250 million to update its existing hotel and convention centre.
Louise Crandall, corporate services manager at the Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority, says that the potential loss of revenue could have a wide-ranging effect.
“We’re either turning away or losing business daily. The longer we don’t have the space, the longer it will take to overcome the loss,” she says.
“Obviously conventions have a huge economic impact and Ottawa is suffering already, right down to the retail stores and taxi services. Basically, we’re gaining a bad reputation.”
One solution to the problem might be the proposed $400-million project to expand convention facilities and add a five-star hotel on top of the Rideau Centre downtown.
The plan includes a partnership between regional, federal and provincial governments and members of the private sector.
However, the coming municipal election has caused development delays.
Hamilton says immediate action is necessary or Ottawa will continue to lose money.
“Let’s say you went to the store to buy a jacket and they didn’t have your size. Obviously, you would just go to a store that did carry what you wanted. Well, the same applies for conventions,” he says. “If we cannot accommodate them, then they will go somewhere else.”