Hotel association supports Ottawa mayor's call for government funding

Ottawa's downtown core has seen a steep decline in recent years. Numerous factors, ranging from new work-from-home policies for federal workers to crime and the opioid crisis, have prevented visitors from coming or returning to the capital.

"Yesterday, we witnessed someone attack someone else on the ground. My sister-in-law panicked," says Laith Barsoom, whose relatives are vacationing from the Netherlands. "We didn't want to dine outside because we were worried about the kids," he adds.

Barsoom's son, Jonas, says, "It depends on where you are because if you're deep downtown there's a lot of homeless people but places you can walk to like Parliament Hill are much nicer and cleaner."

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Earlier this month, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe launched his "Fairness for Ottawa" campaign, calling on all levels of government to help get Ottawa on the same playing field as other big cities by providing funding to help with struggling city services.

Steve Ball, the president of the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association, is now echoing those calls.

Ball replied to a LinkedIn post of Sutcliffe's saying, "The Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association would be happy to add our name to the list Mr. Mayor. Our industry is seeing firsthand the impact the condition of our downtown is having on tourism. We need help!"

Ball believes a much-needed boost in government funding could help bring more people and money to Ottawa and take some of the pressure off Ottawa residents.

"Tourism is an important economic driver for our downtown core," says Ball. "When the City of Ottawa is feeling the pinch financially, we're all feeling the pinch… it's going to trickle down to the taxpayer, and tourism can play a really important part of offsetting some of those costs that may end up having to be the burden of the taxpayer."

For now, many tourists like Karim Genot, who is visiting Ottawa from Michigan with his family, hope to see more of what the city has to offer.

"(Ottawa)'s a city that deserves to be more advertised. It has a lot to offer, certainly. It's less famous than Montreal or Toronto, and that's not fair because it's really a charming city."