HINTON, AB / ACCESSWIRE / October 31, 2022 / British Columbia based investment and development company PAR999 Holdings Inc. has announced that it will build a luxury resort in Hinton, Alberta, which will also serve as a hospitality education center, and is planning to break ground in 2023. Hinton, originally a mining town, is referred to as "the gateway to the Rockies" and is located within a 15 minute drive of Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
PAR999 specializes in sustainable hotels, hospitality research and education projects, and theme resorts. The company is combining two of its projects, Bliss Hotels and Resorts and the Center for Hospitality Studies and Research, within a luxury hotel/resort and hospitality education center to be built on existing golf course grounds in Hinton, AB. Amenities will include a service hotel, a main hotel, a retail village, conference center and teaching block, amphitheater, bar, and gourmet restaurant.
PAR999 held an open house on September 28, 2022, welcoming over 200 locals and potential investors to review the hotel and hospitality training center plans. Locally owned newspaper "The Hinton Voice" featured a front page spread covering the proposal going public, sharing that the Town of Hinton had put out calls for expressions of interest (EOI) for the potential development of the land containing the existing golf course; three EOIs were received, and the town council chose to proceed with PAR999's proposal.
The open house succeeded in reassuring the town council that the choice would be the best one for the town's benefit. PAR999 CEO and founding partner Amir Hassan stated, ""My stance has been the same from Day 1 up until now, and that is we need to turn Hinton into an experiential tourism hub." While repeat golf customers of the existing course shared input, PAR999 ensured that its representatives addressed all concerns so that the golf course as it is currently is minimally disrupted.
Hassan has stated that PAR999 was interested in Hinton not only because of the attractive wilderness surrounding the area, but because the region surrounding the Jasper National Park has a significant shortage of quality accommodations for tourists who flock to the area yearly to visit the park, hike in the Rockies, go sightseeing, and even merely travel through the area.
"I've driven through Hinton many times and I've noticed the growing shortage of hospitality and restaurant staff throughout the 10 hour drive on Highway 16, which goes through Hinton," Hassan says. "The people are awesome and welcoming, and travelers usually stop for gas and a coffee or overnight, if the Jasper Resort is full. I thought of developing an economic engine that would propel the town from an industrial to a service economy."