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And thanks for this article from the Ithaca Voice regarding the downtown construction (including pics):
A question: Will there be enough visitors (tourists, students' parents, Cornell conference attendees, etc.) in downtown Ithaca to achieve a decent occupancy rate for all of the new hotels being built there?
A question: Will there be enough visitors (tourists, students' parents, Cornell conference attendees, etc.) in downtown Ithaca to achieve a decent occupancy rate for all of the new hotels being built there?
I don't know and can't promise if all will be successful, but I doubt so much time, money, and effort would have been invested by the developers if they didn't firmly believe in a payoff. And it's not just the developers, but also the financial backers considering how difficult finding financial backing has been the past 8+ years. As noted in the Ithacating blog entry below, the addition of a downtown conference center would certainly be a huge plus for the hospitality industry:
I'm sure there are naysayers who hope some of the projects are not successful, but the genie is out of the bottle as far as downtown Ithaca development goes, and the city is not going back in time to the little burg which was a local secret.
I don't know and can't promise if all will be successful, but I doubt so much time, money, and effort would have been invested by the developers if they didn't firmly believe in a payoff. And it's not just the developers, but also the financial backers considering how difficult finding financial backing has been the past 8+ years. As noted in the Ithacating blog entry below, the addition of a downtown conference center would certainly be a huge plus for the hospitality industry:
I'm sure there are naysayers who hope some of the projects are not successful, but the genie is out of the bottle as far as downtown Ithaca development goes, and the city is not going back in time to the little burg which was a local secret.
Other than football weekends, freshmen orientation and graduation, IMO it is doubtful whether all of the new hotel rooms will be occupied. Also IMO, the Commons area isn't that interesting- not really a great variety of stores, restaurants, watering holes, etc. and the cold and wind during the winter will keep guests from exploring the area. A conference center would help quite a bit, but there is stiff competition for booking conferences.
Other than football weekends, freshmen orientation and graduation, IMO it is doubtful whether all of the new hotel rooms will be occupied. Also IMO, the Commons area isn't that interesting- not really a great variety of stores, restaurants, watering holes, etc. and the cold and wind during the winter will keep guests from exploring the area. A conference center would help quite a bit, but there is stiff competition for booking conferences.
There's also the state park and winery aspect in terms of tourism to consider with Ithaca.
Also, I remember when I went down to visit some years back and made the mistake of doing so during graduation. I had to stay at a hotel in Elmira instead of Ithaca. So, the demand is there in various parts of the year.
Also, Downtown Ithaca is more than the Commons and there are quite a few restaurants there. This doesn't even get into what is going on in Collegetown as well.
There is also somewhat of a corporate and startup culture in the city/area. So, those involved in that may likely need a place to stay, if they want to see if it is an area to potentially start a business or conferences.
A question: Will there be enough visitors (tourists, students' parents, Cornell conference attendees, etc.) in downtown Ithaca to achieve a decent occupancy rate for all of the new hotels being built there?
The County Visitors Bureau actually did a study on that two years ago. The determination was that the county was absorbing about 100 new hotel rooms per year, given population growth and economic growth (tourism, other industries utilizing lodging, students, etc.). Average occupancy has remained around 59-66% even with the new rooms in the early part of the decade (which is average as hotel markets go; newer hotels and those in urban locations tend to be higher, around 80%), but room prices in Tompkins go for 30-50% more than neighboring counties, so it's strong revenue per room.
If all the hotels then in the pipeline (four, totaling about 400 rooms) had been built and opened at the same time, then there would have been an oversupply and an older hotel elsewhere would probably close. But if it was just the two big ones, the downtown Marriott (160 rooms) and the Canopy Hilton (123 rooms), then the market would have a little slack for about a year, but would otherwise absorb the rooms.
Now, keep in mind, that was two years ago. The hotels didn't launch as quickly as anticipated due to financing issues (Ithaca doesn't have big lenders, it's tougher to finance large projects). Marriott's coming on over a year later than anticipated, and Hilton is only expected to open next summer. The smallest hotel, which had something like 37 rooms, was cancelled. The fourth hotel, a 79-room Holiday Inn Express outside of downtown, is expected to open later this year.
So a couple years have passed without any new large hotels, so there's some pent up demand of a couple hundred rooms, which the Marriott and HI Express will take care of. The Hilton is expected to open next year, and there might be a little bit of slack, but it's expected to be absorbed within a year.
Long story short, things should be fine, but don't expect any new big plans. A 67-room hotel was announced in Ithaca town several weeks ago, but that doesn't have approvals yet, probably won't be ready for a year or two if approved.
^ Just to add to that info, this Ithaca Journal article has some upbeat year to date numbers for the occupancy rate in Ithaca (even though some other economic numbers aren't all great):
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