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Another hotel for central Calgary being proposed.

truman_moxy_hotel-3-jpg.740282


Come on Edmonton.
 
IanO said:
Another hotel for central Calgary being proposed.

truman_moxy_hotel-3-jpg.740282


Come on Edmonton.
Click to expand...
It looks nice. Sadly, Edmonton has never really focused much on tourism as much as other cities, probably more potential than we realize if we made the effort.

There are several older underused office buildings downtown that could be converted into nice hotels and some good sites for new ones too.
 
David A said:
It looks nice. Sadly, Edmonton has never really focused much on tourism as much as other cities, probably more potential than we realize if we made the effort.

There are several older underused office buildings downtown that could be converted into nice hotels and some good sites for new ones too.
Click to expand...

To be blunt, there isn't all that much tourism potential here, not compared to Calgary, and that's why a lot more effort will be needed.

Jasper remains the best potential driver. If it wasn't for that Edmonton's tourism draw would max at Saskatchewan levels.

But Jasper is nowhere near convenient enough, and because you can't see the mountains from Edmonton the Jasper angle needs major marketing efforts. And major access improvements. Think 3x daily 200kph+ rail link.

Doesn't necessarily help downtown all that much, but it could drive a few hotels colocated with the regional rail station.

Near term, I think the best play for central/DT is continuing to get as many empty lots filled as fast as possible. That means not opening up new areas for redevelopment, like exhibition lands, rossdale, etc. There's still at least a decade or two worth of infill to be done in the existing areas.

I'm encouraged by the developments around the new park, and I think there could be a tipping point in perceptions once the buildings surrounding it are complete. The six storey wood frame isn't a bad size, just need to keep improving finishes and architectural quality of those builds.
 
The "Come on Edmonton" hand-wringing every time Calgary or another city proposes a major project is a played-out narrative. Treating our tourism or development capacity as a personal failing of the city's character completely misdiagnoses how our local economy actually functions.

Our hospitality sector isn't built on leisure tourists only looking for a mountain view out a downtown window; it’s anchored by sports, the arts, major events and our role as the primary economic hub for the northern half of the province. That is a massive asset, not a consolidation prize.

IMHO, Edmonton doesn't lack potential, it's lacks institutional nerve. We talk endlessly about wanting a vibrant, tourist-friendly destination, but the moment anyone proposes a bold placemaking project (like the gondola), we shelve it.

And the local business community is equally guilty of self-sabotage. We constantly hear complaints about a lack of central foot traffic, but the second a pedestrian corridor or streetscaping is proposed, those same voices aggressively lobby to protect a handful of curb-side parking stalls. Cars don't spend money, people do. If we continue to design our commercial main streets to function like high-speed commuter conduits, we shouldn't act surprised when people don't want to hang out here.
 
Kosy123 said:
Would VLW help with downtown hotel demand? I feel like it might be a decent selling point to tie in downtown attractions with direct rail access to WEM.
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Doubt it. Most are driving from out of town if visiting the mall, and happy to stay at average hotels on the west end.

I bet the LRT helps bring more of them downtown from the west end. But idk if more will choose to stay DT if the mall is the primary reason to visit. Rogers has driven that change more probably. (Come to town for a game and stay DT, then head to WEM for the day).
 
The hotels in Calgary are also being driven by having actual business travellers, it is not solely relying on tourism. For example, next week is the annual O&G conference, and nearly all Calgary hotels are full at HUGE rates. Many hotels who have corporate rates with business clients have blackout rate periods for the conference and Stampede. In addition, Stampede is not fully driven by tourism, but also tons of business travellers who come annually from Canada and internationally.

As mentioned by others, it doesn't make sense to compare ourselves to Calgary in this regard, they have lapped us and we will never catch up due to our city not being a real business city and overly reliant on government jobs. Edmonton could easily support another ~4 star property like a JW, Germaine, Fairmont and another smaller hip hotel like an Alt (both in the DT core).
 
If Economic Development started trying to attract conventions to our city on a regular basis and we started seeing these trade shows and conventions more often than more hotels would be very valuable. There are a few conventions where there are hundreds to thousands of delegates that come into Calgary whereas Edmonton doesn't see that that often.
 
Edmcowboy11 said:
If Economic Development started trying to attract conventions to our city on a regular basis and we started seeing these trade shows and conventions more often than more hotels would be very valuable. There are a few conventions where there are hundreds to thousands of delegates that come into Calgary whereas Edmonton doesn't see that that often.
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I've been harping on about this for awhile now. We:

1. need to fully renovate the Convention Centre
2. ADD a dramatic Hall E and restaurant overlooking the valley.
3. ADD a hotel with direction connect.
4. ADD a nordic spa

That is all. GO.

Screenshot 2026-06-01 at 8.08.42 AM.png
 
Further to that, I hope that if/ when finally changed the LRT going past the Expo Center that there will be an LRT stop right at the front door of that building. There should also be a hotel ideally right at the Expo Center as well.
 
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