Canadian Lodging News asks: How’s Business

Tropical Inn Hotel and Conference Centre, Lloydminster, AB/SK
General Manager: Corri Beckley
No. Rooms: 165
Meeting Space: Up to 4,000 sq. ft.

In a region heavily tied to oilfield development, just about everyone in this community of slightly more than 24,000 residents straddling the Alberta and Saskatchewan border is catching a rare breath.

"We’ve actually started slowing down here a little in mid-December," said general manager Corri Beckley.

While Beckley declined to speculate as to why things have begun to slow down, the timeline is telling.

Shortly before December, the Alberta government implemented a new royalty regime for the oil and natural gas industry which raised by 20 per cent the price companies are charged to develop those resources.

That move has had the effect of slowing down oil exploration across the province, which may explain why the Tropical Inn’s business has slowed down. After all, oilfield workers represent the property’s largest client base.

"Actually, we were kind of relieved to get the breathing space. The labour market was a bit too tight, and we’ve been understaffed for a long time," said Beckley.

The hotel opened up 90 new rooms a few years ago, and have recently been working through a series of guestroom upgrades in the property’s tower area.

However, for the short term at least, Beckley doesn’t think business will be returning to the superheated levels of the past few years.

Park Inn and Suites, Miramichi, NB
General Manager: Robert Francis
Number of Rooms: 67
Meeting Space: 3,000 sq. ft.

Since rebranding last July, general manager Robert Francis says business at this 67-room property has been "steadily increasing," and he expects that trend to continue, at least in the short and intermediate term.

Upon rebranding, the hotel’s name changed from the Wharf Inn to its current name, the Park Inn and Suites.

Along with the name change came an extensive set of upgrades to the property’s exterior, common areas and guestrooms. Those renovations are just wrapping up now, after nearly six months of work.

The renovations, according to Francis, were designed "basically to refresh the property," and further cement its appeal to the hotel’s core constituency of business and government travellers.

Comfort Inn Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay, ON
General Manager: Sherri Locke
Number of Rooms: 80
Meeting Space: None

According to Comfort Inn Thunder Bay general manager Sherri Locke, "business is going great," up slightly over last year.

Growth in the market can be attributed in large part to increased investor and business interest in the region, which is shedding its image as an area whose fortunes rose and fell on the fortunes of the forestry industry.

"There’s a lot of new investment and interest in the area, and we’ve become much more diversified," with investments in the health care and education industries coming into the region.

Catering to predominantly business clientele during the winter months, with the ratio shifting slightly towards day-trippers and leisure travellers during the warm summer months, the Comfort Inn has tried to stay top-of-mind with both segments by continually upgrading hotel guestrooms and public areas.

"Particularly when you’re part of a chain, there’s constant renovation and upkeep and upgrading," said Locke.

Hotel staff and management are looking forward to the warmer summer season, and Locke said occupancy rates are expected to continue to climb, slowly and steadily. "We’re the only fullservice hotel around, and people believe there is good value for money here," she said.

The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, NWT
Operations Manager: Carlo Barrile
No. Rooms: 187
Meeting Space: Up to 400 people

According to general manager Carlo Barrile, business at the largest hotel north of Canada’s 60th parallel is "doing fine," driven by strong demand from the property’s core clientele of corporate and government guests.

For many years, Yellowknife was in a state of decline as the two gold mines that had been the community’s lifeblood began to reach the end of their natural lives, a problem aggravated by the historic low gold prices of about a decade ago.

However, all that has changed with the discovery of rich diamond deposits about 100 kilometres north of Yellowknife, coupled with the ongoing oil and natural gas exploration in the Mackenzie River Delta farther north.

In the past, the Explorer was heavily reliant on the thousands of Japanese tourists who came to Yellowknife to experience the Northern Lights. However, that market disappeared following the 9/11 attacks, and Barrile said the hotel has a whole "new strategy on the marketing" that is much more heavily tied towards the corporate guest.

Noting the "economy in the area is doing very well," Barrile said he and his staff "hope so" when asked if he thinks business will stay strong in the near future.