By GINA HANNAHTimes Business Writer
gina.hannah@htimes.com
Hampton Cove,Jones Valley anddowntown eyed
Huntsville has seen a nearly 15 percent increase in the number of hotel rooms during the past two years, and more are coming, a local tourism official said Friday.
Since 2005, 720 hotel rooms have been completed in the Huntsville market, bringing the total of rooms available to business and leisure travelers from 4,900 to 5,620, said Charles Winters, vice president of marketing for the Huntsville-Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau. He said another 670 rooms are under construction in the area now, including the Westin at Bridge Street Town Centre in Cummings Research Park.
And there are plans for more: Developer Scott McLain plans two hotels for his Constellation development downtown, and Hampton Inn is reportedly looking to build a hotel in Hampton Cove near the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Winters said. He said developers have not shared specific plans about that hotel, which would be the first to locate near the residential development.
In addition, several developers have expressed an interest in building a hotel in Jones Valley, he said.
Winters spokes to a lunch group of Leadership Huntsville/Madison County. The program was part of a retail and tourism update.
The Huntsville market could have nearly 7,000 hotel rooms by 2010, he said. Many of those new rooms will be high end, which will appeal to business and government travelers, and those moving to Huntsville with Pentagon job transfers during the next few years.
Winters said the increase in the number of hotel rooms is just one facet of the area's growing tourism industry. Huntsville International Airport now has nonstop flights to 14 airports across the U.S., including , New York and Orlando. Flights from Huntsville to Fort Lauderdale will allow local travelers to fly directly to a port city and get aboard a cruise ship, he said.