It was only 1:49 in length, but Mark Matiasek, general manager of Thompson Unlimited still well remembers the October 2008 CTV National News piece by Joe Olafson on Thompson headlined, "With Canada's economy in a critical state, stories about boom towns are in short supply, but cities like Thompson, Manitoba have more jobs than workers and the housing market is booming."
Of course, it would be hard to forget. That was the month after Lehman Brothers and the Wall Street meltdown when the Great Recession got under way and jobs started to disappear at a sickening clip across North America. Well, most of North America. Not Thompson.
Matiasek acted as chauffer, driving Olafson around town. The piece opens with Winnipeg ironworkers Fred Swift and Randy Harder camping at McCreedy's in a small trailer they purchased rather than pay $1,200 a month for a room. You can watch the clip here:
http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/boom-town/#clip106251
"There's plenty of jobs but nowhere to live," said Olafson on his voiceover.
"A fact is, on more than one occasion, some persons have had to postpone their trip to Thompson because of the unavailability of hotel rooms. No hotel rooms; no spaces in campgrounds; just no room," Matiasek said March 2, outlining how Thompson Unlimited helped Al Can Global Development Inc., of Selkirk, get to the stage it was ready to exercise its option to buy property on Moak Crescent and plans to build a 69-room three-storey Extended Stay Hotel franchise.
"Times are different now, of course," Matiasek said. "True hotel room occupancy rates are not similar today as they were in June 2007. Nonetheless, the dam is under
development still and other dams are planned in Northern Manitoba. Vale Inco plans to continue upgrade work on their surface infrastructure. Thompson at this time is emerging from a global economic downturn well, compared to other regions in Canada. The future looks bright if the projected demand for hotels is any indicator."
If all goes according to plan, Thompson may have two new hotels under construction and about 150 new hotel rooms on the way by spring.
The are currently about 450 hotels rooms in the city, probably averaging a 70 per cent occupancy rate, Keith MacDonald, president of the Thompson Chamber of Commerce and general manager of both the Burntwood Hotel and Thompson Inn, owned by Manfred Boehm of Winnipeg, said in January.
MacDonald said at about 70 per cent occupancy the eight hotels in Thompson, which besides the two he manages also include Days Inn, Meridian Hotel, Country Inn and Suites, Interior Inn, Mystery Lake Motor Hotel and Northern Inn & Steak House, are likely making money, but he doubts the local market can absorb 150 more new hotel rooms profitably.
"Thompson Unlimited was contacted by NorMan RDC and advised of preliminary discussions involving a popular national hotel room chain about expanding into the Northern Manitoba market," Matiasek said. Thompson Unlimited engaged the contact directly and commenced discussions about expanding into Thompson. Discussions further evolved to include a preliminary trip to our city to tour and meet others face-to-face. Positive discussions were enjoyed and subsequently lead to an investors' forum being organized by Thompson Unlimited involving the director of franchise sales and potential local investors," Matiasek said.
"Additional tours of the city followed involving the
director of franchise sales and major investors by Thompson Unlimited, and a shortlist of vacant undeveloped lots were created. Site selection practices were utilized to select a preferred parcel of land from the shortlist. Further discussions ensued involving the city, local contractors, the director and Thompson Unlimited, which culminated into verbal, followed by written, agreements in a careful process to bring about a business transaction," he said.
"This type hotel operates following a different model than more traditional hotels. The hotel is designed to accommodate persons expected to stay in Thompson (or the immediate region) for a length of time. No restaurant, no pool, en suites amenities and extra light housekeeping characterize this model. More rooms of a different nature for Thompson visitors results. Could this though dilute existing hoteliers occupancy rates? What does this
mean to the city and taxpayers? How does this fit in with the larger picture of the city's development?
"More rooms are added to the local inventory whereby repeat winter weather testers, and new ones hoped to make Thompson their preferred location for winter and cold weather testing, now have another place to stay. Medical
visits to Thompson as well. Taking a five-year historical average of local hotel room occupancy rates could be more representative of the range and accuracy of the rate. This though does not take into account surges in hotel rooms coming from mega projects as dam building, etc.
"Diversifying the economy of Thompson includes tourism. What is the rationale though in attracting them when there is difficulty in finding a hotel room here? The regional tourism economy including the traffic heading to Churchill's famous polar bear and beluga whale attractions - tourists passing through Thompson is also negatively impacted. Where do they stay?
"Having contractors utilize this extended stay model of accommodations may help divert some contractors from staying in more traditional hotels and thus make room for tourists who would be more compelled to stay in the traditional hotel (restaurants, taverns, pool, daily housekeeping, etc.).
"As part of their due diligence in considering their expansion into the Thompson market, the hotel chain collected and analyzed data to determine the demand for their product. In determining whether to make a multi-million dollar investment in our community, they had to be sure that they would earn their return on investment. The fact that they optioned the land is evidence that they see a business opportunity here.
"The city sold city-owned land at a fair market price. Property standards developing will be examined. A new building adding to that part of the city is coming. New taxes will be generated from the hotel and its operations, and accrue to the city (and other levels of government too). New jobs to be created as well.
"Thompson Unlimited was active in assisting the process," said Matiasek, "followed by the hotel chain exploring and selecting an entry into the accommodations industry. The benefits are clear to a wide audience. The investors see opportunity by the fact of making a multi-million dollar commitment in our city. Some existing hoteliers actually got stronger from this hotel differentiation. Manitoba Hydro and their contractors, and Vale Inco, could be pleased to see this.
"Regular visitors to Thompson could breath a bit easier in their trips to Thompson knowing that finding a room might get a bit easier," Matiasek added.
