Spokane area has high hopes for strong 2010

The Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau expects a boffo 2010, Chief Executive Officer Harry Sladich said.

Four major conventions alone are expected to generate $17 million in business, he said.

Add the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, potentially worth $10 million, and the return of the Walking with Dinosaurs event, plus a repeat of the 1.5 million rooms visitors booked in 2009, and the foundation is laid for a stellar year.

Good demand, Sladich added, has allowed hotel operators to maintain room rates in the mid-$80 range.

At the Spokane Regional Sports Commission, spokeswoman Suzanne Boyce said scheduled competitions, including NCAA men’s basketball and American Legion World Series baseball, should add another $15 million to the local economy.

The picture is far less green for hotels outside the Inland Northwest, said Magnuson Hotels Chief Executive Officer Tom Magnuson.

The Spokane-based provider of reservation and other services to almost 1,100 hotels in the U.S. is advising its members to batten down, he said. As many as 10,000 hotel foreclosures are projected for the year, Magnuson said.

Owners who refinanced a few years ago at the top of the business cycle, taking out cash in the process, face a hostile credit environment that may not let them roll over their loans, he said.

To survive a prolonged economic downturn, Magnuson said, owners will have to cut expenses to the bone.

“We question how much money people are going to have to spend,” he said.