If all pending proposals are completed, the number of hotel rooms would increase 23 percent.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
If all pending proposals to build hotels in Eugene are completed, the number of rooms in the city would increase 23 percent.
The most recent plan submitted allows for a long-term Marriott with 97 rooms.
The TownePlace Suites is one of five new hotels that are being planned or have started construction in Eugene. If each of these hotels is fully built out, they would add 526 hotel rooms to Eugene’s existing 2,276 hotel rooms, an increase of 23 percent. It shouldn’t be a problem to fill all those rooms during peak periods, but keeping them occupied in between the peaks would require stepping up efforts to attract visitors, said Kari Westlund, chief executive of Travel Lane County.
“We certainly can fill (these rooms) on peak days, around football, major track events, UO graduation, etc.,” Westlund said. “But we also do need to get serious about additional meeting-convention space that can create demand and generate visitor spending the rest of the year.”
(SOURCE: Register-Guard)
Westlund went on to say that adding convention space will be important for the long-term vitality of the hotel projects.
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