Camping on the cards for Coventry City of Culture guests
Limited hotel beds mean tourists visiting the next UK City of Culture will also be directed towards camping, Airbnbs and student accommodation.
Coventry is expecting an extra 2.5m visitors during the event in 2021. With 4,700 hotel beds in the city currently, and two more hotels set to open, the city council said it was looking at "quirky" ways to create other places to stay. It says it is "confident" accommodation will be secured for all the guests. Last year, Val Birchall, head of sport, culture and destination at the council, said not all visitors would be able to stay in the city. They would also have to stay in surrounding areas, "because we don't actually have all the accommodation", she said. There has been less visitor accommodation growth in Coventry than in similar destinations, a council report said. Hull, the UK's city of culture in 2017, saw 4.7m people visit the city during the year. Ten thousand people watched Hull's curtain raiser, but with only 1,000 hotel rooms available, the local council also appealed to residents to rent spare rooms. An 88-bed boutique hotel in the former Coventry Telegraph building is due to open in autumn 2020 and a 100-bed hotel in Friargate will be launched in spring 2021. Ms Birchall said there are also plans for Coventry to use camping sites to accommodate guests in 2021 and hopes people will invite friends and family to stay in their homes. She said there is also interest from developers to create "pop-up" accommodation including Yurts or hostels. Work is also underway by Historic Coventry Trust to transform iconic buildings into accommodation, including Swanswell Gate in Lady Herbert's Garden. Jim O'Boyle, cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, said: "I am very confident we will be able to secure accommodation for all of our visitors." Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.