Floating hotel organizer hopes to ride surge of Olympic bookings

By Bruce Constantineau, Canwest News Service
Published on May 3, 2009

VANCOUVER — A family of five plunked down $30,000 US last week to spend six nights on the Norwegian Star cruise ship in North Vancouver during the Olympics next year.

And businessman Dennis Laliberte hopes that’s the start of a groundswell of profitable Games-related bookings over the next nine months.

“The Canadian market has been pounded with the notion there is no accommodation available during the Olympics,” he said after a tour of the Norwegian Cruise Line vessel.

Laliberte’s Edmonton-based company — Newwest Special Projects — has paid more than $10 million to charter the ship and market it as a 1,119-room floating hotel during the Games.

“People are going to find out about us and once we get inside that July period this summer, we’re off to the races,” he said. “This cruise ship will be the largest hotel in Vancouver during the Olympics.”

Read the rest of this story at Vancouver Sun