Denver Business Journal — Officials from the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center have booked more than 1 million room nights for convention visitors, two months before the 1,501-room hotel is scheduled to open.
During a regular presentation to the Colorado Economic Development Commission, Aurora officials said Wednesday that 81 percent of the conventions that have booked out through the next eight years are organizations that have not held a gathering in the Denver area before. The ability to attract new visitors to the state was a key to the hotel’s winning Colorado EDC approval of as much as $81.4 million in Regional Tourism Act tax incentives in 2011 that developers said were key to the $800 million facility’s ability to move forward.
Passing the 1 million mark in room bookings — past Aurora Economic Development Council chairwoman Rita Connerly said the figure is “almost 1.1 million” — is another milestone in the development of the property, which is slated to open on Dec. 18. Facility leaders are now busy hiring what hotel general manager Rick Medwedeff previously said would be a 1,500-worker staff needed to service the location.
“The progress in terms of the hotel is on schedule,” said Wendy Mitchell, Aurora EDC president and CEO.
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