Coventry facing hotel shortage ahead of City of Culture
Coventry faces a shortage of hotel facilities in the run-up to its City of Culture celebrations in 2021.
The city estimates it is at least two hotels short of requirements for the expected influx of tourists likely to visit Coventry to enjoy the festival.
The city’s needs will spearhead its presentation to investors at this year’s MIPIM property exhibition.
Based on the experiences of Hull, the last city to hold the title, Coventry is also thought to be short of other facilities such as multi-storey car parks.
Estimates are that around £1bn could be injected in to the city’s economy over the next four years in the build up to the event.
The Coventry and Warwickshire delegation to MIPIM in March is expected to be the largest ever dispatched from the area in the 20 years it has been attending the global property exhibition.
However, with the specific needs of the city this year, delegates are expecting a lot of interest from investors.
Martin Yardley, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said the next 12 months would likely shape what the city will look like ahead of taking over the culture mantle from Hull.
He said: “Based on the experience of Hull, we can expect to see more than £1bn coming into our economy and a great deal of that will be through tourism and visitor numbers.
“We have to make sure that we are equipped to give everyone who wants to experience the UK City of Culture 2021 a very positive experience.
“We know that the organisers – who did so well to land the honour – will put on a programme which will attract people from across the UK and beyond. We must make sure that the city is not only geared up to cater for those visitors but also to create a legacy which will benefit the city and the county for years to come.
“We believe that we need to see the development of two new hotels and other developments may also include new multi-storey car-parking.
“In addition, there will be considerable investment in public realm but also the redevelopment of existing buildings and facilities.”
The city will have created a new water park and 50-metre swimming pool by 2019. This will mean an existing sports centre will become vacant and in need of a future use.
Mr Yardley said the city retained an open mind on what these uses might be and was willing to listen to ideas from developers.
“We have quite a tight window to ensure everything is in place for 2021, and the fact that MIPIM comes just a couple of months after the 2021 decision helps that,” he said.
“We effectively have a 12-month window to get plans in place ahead of work starting to ensure it is finished in time, so we are welcoming approaches from developers and investors in the relevant areas.”
Coventry and Warwickshire is represented at MIPIM by a partnership made up of around 20 private sector companies and organisations who help finance the area’s presence at the four-day event.