Omni Remains Committed to Convention Hotels Despite Pandemic Downturn
Photo Credit: Omni Hotels & Resorts isn't letting a global pandemic dim its outlook on developing convention hotels. Omni Hotels & Resorts
Skift Take
Omni doubling down on luxury convention hotels at a time when major events aren't expected to return until at least next year is a risky move. But it could also prove highly successful if its long-view forecast actually pans out.
Omni Hotels & Resorts may seem like a particularly vulnerable hotel company, given the torpedoed conventions and events business during a global pandemic.
Yet company leaders say there is still plenty of runway for growth in convention hotels.
"We're still bullish on convention hotels," Omni President Peter Strebel said. "I do think group business is going to be the last to return. But, if anything, it will come back stronger."
Dallas-based Omni banked much of its growth in recent years on group business travel and meetings, opening convention hotels in Fort Worth, Texas; Dallas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Louisville Kentucky over the last 11 years.
The hotel company is on track to open the 320-room, Nordic-inspired Omni Viking Lakes Hotel October 1 in Minnesota. The Omni Oklahoma City Hotel and Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport — both convention-geared properties — are slated to open next year.
But it isn't entirely growth mode at Omni.
The company is consideri
