Perth’s capacity problem
Perth’s planners are grappling with the issue of the hotel boom.
There are hotels springing up everywhere all over Perth. The city has got eight new hotels since 2012. Another 10 are under construction and due to open over the next two years.
Things have got so busy in the sector that Perth could soon have more than 3000 new hotel beds, mostly four or five-star accommodation.
And that’s an issue for city planners. Does the place have the capacity to fill them?
It’s a problem because growth in WA’s international and interstate tourist numbers lags the rest of Australia.
The Tourism Council believes WA has to do more to attract visitors and in a report, it has identified business conventions and exhibitions as a way to get more high-spending visitors to Western Australia.
The Tourism Council says that’s an issue because the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre is at capacity. There simply isn’t enough room and it’s put out a report spelling out the problem and outlining what should be done.
“The national and international business events market has expanded dramatically, especially from emerging Asian markets,” the report says.
“All other States have expanded their convention and exhibition centre capacity to accommodate this growth and capture a greater share of the business events market.
“At the height of the resources boom, Perth had insufficient hotel rooms to accommodate more business event delegates.
“However, with lower hotel occupancy rates and more than 2000 additional rooms under development, Perth now has more than enough accommodation to host a significant increase in business events and delegates.
To host bigger or multiple events, it wants the centre’s capacity to be expanded by 10,000 square metres in new floor space.
It’s looking for three new exhibition/convention pavilions, 10-15 extra meeting rooms, a multipurpose room with tiered seating and a boutique function room for 500 people with views of Elizabeth Quay and the Swan River.
by Leon Gettler, May 27th 2016