UDI Seminar: How to Diversify Your Portfolio in the Hotel Market

TY SPEER PRESENTATION
GARY POONI PRESENTATION
EMMA CAHALANE PRESENTATION

Tourism Vancouver and the City of Vancouver are actively encouraging the development of more hotels as part of the new Interim Hotel Policy introduced in 2018. There has been a net loss of 1600 hotel rooms over the past 15 years, yet an increase of 2.2 million tourists over the past six years. Vancouver has become a high-end hotel city. The high cost of hotel rooms is impacting the number of days tourists spend in Vancouver, thus negatively impacting local businesses. 

The Interim Hotel Policy offers an opportunity to diversify home builder and owner portfolios by leveraging new and existing mixed use assets and commercial projects to create much needed hotel supply in Vancouver without having to make any alterations to their properties. 
 

Featured panel:

• Emma Cahalane, General Manager, Sonder
• Gary Pooni, President, Brook Pooni
• Ty Speer, President & CEO, Tourism Vancouver
• Charles Gauthier, President & CEO, Downtown Vancouver BIA (moderator)

Emma Cahalane is the General Manager for Sonder's B.C. area market. In this role, she leads Sonder's real estate growth, hospitality operations, and team-building efforts. At Sonder, she's found a way to combine her love of startups, leadership, and travel. Previously, Emma spent 8 years at Google, launching numerous new verticals and running Operations, Business Development, Account Management, and Diversity & Inclusion for Ireland, UK and Australia. Most recently, she was the Market Lead for SMB Sales for Australia/New Zealand. Originally from Cork, Ireland, she currently lives in Vancouver where she enjoys snowboarding, hiking and all of the beautiful scenery British Columbia has to offer.

GARY POONI - President, Brook Pooni
“I love the creative side of planning, but what I enjoy most is bringing positive change to communities.”

In his role as president and senior planner, Gary drives the firm’s growth and manages major client projects. With over twenty years of planning-related experience, he has spearheaded projects throughout the Lower Mainland, the Sea to Sky corridor and throughout BC, Alberta and most recently Ontario. His expertise includes policy planning, public consultation and advanced negotiation and facilitation. After being appointed President in 2008, Gary was honored as one of Business in Vancouver’s “Top Forty under 40” within a year.

Passionate about supporting the community, Gary chairs the Urban Development Institute Membership Committee, is an annual instructor for the UDI School of Development, and serves on the board of Provincial Health Services Authority. He also serves as Director of the Indo-Canadian Friendship Society, which provides funding and resources for infrastructure and community development in Punjab, India.

Gary holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Design (Planning) from the University of Calgary and a B.A. in Geography from Simon Fraser University, and is a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners.

TY SPEER - President & CEO, Tourism Vancouver
Ty has a strong background in sales and marketing and has held senior leadership positions in organizations with parallels to Tourism Vancouver – most notably in major sporting events such as the Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games.

He brings a private‐sector, international perspective with extensive experience working with boards of directors, multi‐levels of government, corporate sponsors and media.  His most recent role was Deputy CEO of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games where he led a commercial program that exceeded some $168 million in revenues.  For the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games, his responsibilities included leading all client partnerships (55 sponsors) and managing commercial relationships with the British Olympic Association, the British Paralympic Association and various public sector partners such as Greater London Authority, Visit London and UK Sport.

Prior to his recent consecutive games’ experiences, Ty held senior positions with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and Octagon (formerly Advantage International).
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Ty has a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Management from the Australian Graduate Schools of Management in Sydney.

CHARLES GAUTHIER - President & CEO of Downtown Vancouver BIA (MODERATOR)
Charles holds a Masters of City Planning from the University of Manitoba and has been steering the DVBIA with vision and a commitment to the future of downtown Vancouver since 1992. He’s been the recipient of Business In Vancouver’s prestigious ‘40 Under 40 Achievement Award,’ and has served on numerous boards during his career including the Business Improvement Areas of BC, the BC chapter of the Canadian Society of Association Executives, the International Downtown Association, and the Vancouver New Year’s Eve Celebration Society. He is sought out by media, government and colleagues to provide a perspective on downtown issues, and foremost, he lobbies all three levels of government on behalf of the collective interests of DVBIA members and downtown.