Major hockey tournaments, holiday shoppers bring big business to Ottawa

Ottawa has been flooded with tourists as hockey fans from around the world arrive in the nation's capital.

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The IIHF World Junior Championships and the Bell Capital Cup are being held simultaneously, adding to an already busy period for holiday shopping. With holiday markets still wrapping up, it's creating a buzz the city has seldom seen in recent winters.

"Leisure season for Ottawa is usually the summer, and then fall and spring are more about business tourism, conferences, congresses," said Jerome Miousse, director of public affairs with Tourism Ottawa. "To have a leisure peak now during the holidays, it's very good for the city."

250 minor hockey teams are taking part in the 24th annual Bell Capital Cup, bringing more than 4,500 U10 to U13 players and their families, filling hotels.

Hockey Canada says the World Juniors attracts roughly 100,000 unique visitors to the host city every year that it is held in Canada.

"Roughly 80 per cent of the people will come from 200 kilometres away from Ottawa, in that region, and the other 20 per cent will come from beyond that," said Dean McIntosh, a senior vice president for Hockey Canada.

"We expect somewhere between 330,000 and 350,000 fans will come into a building to attend the game. Now, that doesn't include the fans that will also attend Fan Fest here in Ottawa."

The Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association (OGHA) says accommodations around the city are between 80 and 90 per cent full.

"What's great about this event is it's spread out all over the community," said Steve Ball, president of the OGHA. "It's benefiting hotels that are out in the Kanata area, in the south end."

With thousands of visitors filling the city, the local economy is expecting a boost in the millions of dollars. The Bell Capital Cup runs until Dec. 31 and the World Juniors stretch to Jan. 5.

Officials have high hopes for what the tournaments could mean for the local economy.

"The main benchmark we have is the Halifax-Moncton World Juniors a couple of years ago," said Miousse.

"They had an economic impact of $50 million. So that's our benchmark."