From Shawn Hathaway
I am in my 30’s and I would say that I am not an Old fogey. I don’t feel that Oliver has the revenue to support a hotel of that size.
How many business spaces are still for rent in Oliver just on main street alone? Over 7 by my last count a few days ago. The space for rent beside ICBC has been vacant ever since it was built. The space where the old hotel was that burned down has sat idle with no development at all.
Those same spaces have changed renters many times. Oliver is not growing in terms of businesses starting.
Increasing tourism, spending, or business revenue to justify a hotel is hard when our own rental spaces are vacant. A hotel does not support itself; it needs a thriving town to support it with steady revenue. When you have many vacant business spaces or ones that don’t last the year, you can hardly call that thriving.
I would be curious to see if you went around to the business in Oliver how many would describe theirs as thriving or booming, at the moment if they were being totally honest?
What in Oliver would bring people year round to this hotel?
How would the town or developer replace or replant new green space?
Why are you voiding their taxes for 10 years? I mean really those taxes help pay to upkeep and expand town services. The very services like garbage, water, streets, power infrastructure, etc. etc. that a hotel needs.
How would this hotel taken on its own generate new growth for the town? There already needs to be growth to feel the need for a hotel. This isn’t a build it and they will come dream.
Any developer worth their salt is going to want a firm long term plan that fits in with a town’s growth and vision. If it isn’t a good natural fit then a hotel withers and dies pretty quick.
These quick plans to revitalize a patch work of the town have not been a success in my mind. A series of band aids that are beginning to all fall off. Take the OIB for example they have had a strong overall business plan in place for years. They do their research and build where and when needed with purpose. It benefits the band as whole and gives them different areas to expand into smoothly and with the ability to change or adapt without too much knee jerk reaction in my mind. They have diversified their business ventures without over extending themselves as far as I know. Oliver as a town does not have that focus, drive, planning, or willingness to really set some long term goals and work through it naturally.
Let us say at 50.00 a day for 40 sites at the RV site at full capacity for 4 months is 240,000 of total taxable income. This of course an estimate of the income very roughly for their season.
Let us say the average amount of people per site is between 2-4 people. Let us assume each person spends between 60- 100 a week in food while they stay here. So at the low end of 60.00 for each person averaging just 2 people person site, at 40 sites for 16 weeks assuming full capacity. Works out to 76,000 just in food being spent locally. This does not account for dinning out or other activities. At the high end of 4 per site average for the season of 16 weeks you are looking at 256,000 in money being spent on food.
Let us assume half at any given time are drinkers of just wine. So at the low end 40 people drinking just 1 bottle of wine a week so 40×16 = 640 bottles of wine just to the park, at an average cost of 15.00 a bottle = 9,600 in just wine for the season. At the high end 80×16= 1280 bottles for a total of 19,200 in liquor sales locally.
My next point is entertainment assuming each person at the low end spend just 100.00 a week in entertainment per person of various kinds of entertainment 80x100x16= 128,000. At the high end 160 people, 100 per week, per person you would have 256,000 for the season.
Spending on gas to get around, using at the low end 80 people x 20.00 a week x 16 weeks is 25,600. Let be real is going to be more than that per week I’m clearly low balling this number. At the high end 160 people x 20.00 a week x 16 weeks = 51,200
These numbers are for a fully capacity of 16 weeks or equivalent.
Rental income 240,000
Potential food money spent 76,000 to 256,000
Local liquor sales estimate 9,600 to 19,200
Entertainment expenses estimate 128,000 to 256,000
Estimated gas being spent locally 25,000 and 51,000
Just on those very limited number the park pulls in 238,000 roughly for 16 weeks in direct benefit to the town. Garbage produced would be much less then generated by a hotel. So collection costs in general for the town are low in that regard. Utilities are also limited compared to what a hotel would consume just on a daily bases.
Should we have a hotel yes, but the RV park still is a viable business model for that location. Are the other sites being looked at a few blocks or maybe even a few KM away? Yes, but it really doesn’t impact the dollar amount over all of revenue generated. Also is the hotel model sustainable over 10 years given Oliver’s current growth if it stays the same over that period?