Introduction

Vancouver is a dynamic, multicultural city set in a spectacular natural environment. No matter what time of year you visit, there are indoor and outdoor activities to please adults, families, couples and friends to no end. As the proud host of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver looks ahead to ongoing growth and great success in tourism each year. (Tourism Vancouver).

On July 2, 2003, the International Olympic Committee selected Vancouver as the Host City for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Athletes and spectators from all around the world will gather in Vancouver and the alpine resort of Whistler in 2010 to celebrate. This announcement, along with a spectacular natural playground and vibrant state-of-the-art venues, puts Vancouver in the spotlight as a premier sports destination. (Tourism Vancouver).

Ultimately, as spectators all around the world travel to particpate in this spectacular city of events, there will be a necessity of a comfortable place to stay. Travellers do not randomly select hotels. Many factors are involved in this decision making, such as convenience to places they may be interested in such as shopping destinations or major attractions in the city. Whatever the case may be, there are factors that travellers look into when selecting a hotel to stay at.

Downtown Vancouver is selected as the core of the metropolitan, therefore, the study area is situated in this region. It is inevitable that the demand for hotel services will increase as tourism expands in Vancouver.

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The goal for this project is to find a potential location for a new hotel in downtown Vancouver considering a series of factors and constraints such as landuse, major shopping centers and attraction sites, accessibility to transportation, existing hotels, and night life all situated in downtown using programs such as Idrisi Kilimanjaro and ArcMap, and further research made on the Internet.