The Opportunities, Straight Talk, Dollars and Cents
This article originally appeared in Lodging News.
TORONTO – First launched in 1997, the Canadian Hotel Investment Conference has established itself as the definitive source for information, insight and opinion on today’s Canadian lodging market. For senior executives from across North America this business conference delivers outstanding insight on where the industry is today, where it’s heading and the options it can deliver.
Hard-hitting sessions and powerful industry panels zero in on lodging development, investment and finance to reveal viable opportunities, future trends and up-to-the-minute cross country performance. Critical insights from experts, shared information from industry insiders and important one-on-one networking all come together in a program that has become a “must-do” annual event.
On Tuesday, May 28 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., conference hosts CBRE Hotels, Colliers International Hotels, and HLT Advisory Inc. welcome all registered delegates to reunite with old acquaintances and strike new relationships.
Transaction markets continue to be “bubbly”
On Wednesday May 29, conference hosts Lyle Hall of HLT Advisory and Bill Stone of CBRE Hotels kick off the morning with an economic update for Canadian hotels. The Canadian hotel and broader commercial real estate transaction markets continue to be bubbly, with a reasonably positive economic outlook. What are the reasons? Where are the opportunities? How do you compete in such an active phase of the investment cycle?
Steve and Reetu Gupta will participate in a discussion on family-run businesses
Breakout sessions will look at the market opportunities from unusual perspectives. For example, one session looks at markets of under one million in population. This session looks at the supply pipeline and development opportunities in up-and-coming markets across Canada, including Fort McMurray, Regina, Saskatoon, Quebec City and Halifax.
Other breakouts look at hotel investment from the points of view of the asset manager and the passive hotel investor.
Afternoon sessions will provide delegates with a chance to meet some industry advocates in Ottawa; and have an in depth look at the anatomy of financing.
One of the afternoon sessions turns the focus to the major urban and resort markets, providing an update of the supply pipeline and development opportunities in major Canadian centres, including case studies of Toronto Airport, downtown Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.
A candid look at work in a family business
And then there’s the question of working in a family business. Special issues crop up in family-run businesses that don’t occur anywhere else. Steve and Reetu Gupta of Easton’s Group of Hotels, Bob and Ryan Pomeroy of the Pomeroy Group, Hugo and Jean-Yves Germain of Groupe Germain, and Anil and Ash Taneja of Palm Holdings, will provide a candid discussion of the challenges and opportunities of working with family.
The day will conclude with a reception held in conjunction with delegates from the Canadian Restaurant Investment Summit.
Canadian Restaurant Investment Summit now in fourth year
Now in its fourth year, the Canadian Restaurant Investment Summit has solidly established itself as an annual business conference that brings the industry into focus.
Operators, chain executives, franchise operators, investors, lenders and key suppliers from across the country agree that this is an event that delivers what they need—insight, information and opportunity—all with meaningful content and a tight focus that is uniquely Canadian.
This year’s topics include using Google to gain a competitive edge, design and construction, community sponsorship, franchisor/franchisee relationships, and the migration of brands from west to east.
Another session asks, “What happens when a local becomes a chain?”
The conference will conclude with an interview with Annie Young- Scrivner who joined Starbucks in September 2009 as chief marketing officer and is currently president of Starbucks Canada.