To build the 10,000 hotel rooms Vancouver urgently needs by 2050 to keep pace with growing demand, a new report released today by Destination Vancouver and the BC Hotel Association, Hotel Community Impact Assessment, outlines a clear strategy to meet this target while boosting jobs, animating neighbourhoods, and unlocking billions in economic activity.

Shifts in the real estate market—such as declining demand for office and strata developments—have created a rare window of opportunity for hotel development.

“Hotel development needs to be seen as a city-building tool, said Royce Chwin, President & CEO of Destination Vancouver. “We’re seeing unprecedented interest for investment in new hotel properties in Vancouver. There is an opening to take swift action, otherwise capital will move wherever conditions are more favourable.”

The Vancouver Hotel Development Task Force to take concrete action on the issue. Made up of representatives from industry and the City of Vancouver, the goal of the Task Force is to identify and recommend strategies to enable a sustainable and appropriate supply of new hotel development.

“This is about more than hotel rooms—it’s about building a vibrant, resilient city. Hotels are economic engines and social anchors,” said Ingrid Jarrett, co-chair of the Task Force with Chwin and the former CEO of the BC Hotel Association. “They support jobs, events, tourism, local businesses, and can enliven neighbourhoods.”

This new report was commissioned by the Task Force and was undertaken in parallel with official hotel policy updates from the City of Vancouver.

Although this report is focused on hotel development in Vancouver, both the methodology and many of the opportunities identified are likely to apply across other BC municipalities experiencing a hotel shortage.