As Calgary’s Culture and Entertainment District continues with its rejuvenation, hospitality officials say a hotel room deficit would slow the city’s tourism growth. On Wednesday, a council committee endorsed a proposal that aims to streamline and fast-track future hotel development in the Beltline by establishing an area where hotel projects are excluded from the city’s density rules. With the expansion of the BMO Centre completed and construction of Scotia Place well under way, the area needs more places for people to stay, officials say. “In order to bring people here, we need hotel rooms to house them. (If) we don’t have that, they don’t come. And so encouraging more hotel rooms in the city is an absolute prerequisite to the success of those investments that we’ve made,” said Myka Osinchuk, the CEO of the Calgary Hotel Association. Several hotel projects have been announced near Victoria Park, with two already being built. Even with the completion of those projects, Tourism Calgary says the area will still have a shortage of 3,000 hotel rooms. “We have put a lot of money into that area and to try and maximize on those investments is part of the rationale with why we’re looking at accelerating some of the development of some of the hotels,” said Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot. A 320-room Autograph Collection hotel is under construction on Stampede Park right now and is set to open in 2028. The W & JW Marriot Hotel and Residences across the street have also been announced. The Moxy, a hotel development in the nearby East Village, is also under construction. With the committee’s endorsement, council as a whole will have final say on the proposed amendments in December.
