The Convention and Visitors Bureau will kickoff its downtown Danville hotel feasibility study with a special called meeting planned for 9 a.m. Oct. 5.

CVB Executive Director Jennifer Kirchner said this week that she has met with economic development leaders and members of the local hotel industry about the study to address potential concerns that a downtown hotel would not be helpful to business for the hotels located on the city’s bypass.

Kirchner said the study amounts to a “comprehensive market study” with “no preconceived conclusion.” A lot of the data about the Danville market that the study will reveal will be made available to the bypass hotels, allowing them to market themselves better regardless of what the feasibility of a downtown hotel is, she said.

“I was very clear that the CVB isn’t going to promote or do something that is going to be the detriment to any of our hoteliers. Without the success of our hoteliers, we cease to exist,” she said. “Really, what’s best for the hotel market in Boyle County is what our goal is. I know when we talked about it previously, there was some concern just that we were too aggressive in saying ‘this is going to happen.’ It’s not. We’re really very open-minded about this study.”

Kirchner said she’s going to do everything she can to advertise the kickoff for the study. She held up the Wilderness Road Guesthouses facilities in Stanford as an example of one kind of lodging the study might examine for Danville.

“The model they have in Stanford is just fabulous — it’s the keyless entry; they’re petite rooms; you check yourself in — it’s really a wonderful compromise,” she said. “Maybe something like that should happen in Danville, maybe it shouldn’t. These are the kinds of questions we’re trying to answer.”

The CVB is paying RKG Associates $15,000 to conduct the feasibility study. It’s planned to include assessments of the financial viability of adding different kinds of hotels and lodging, as well as site assessments for where those facilities could be located. RKG has estimated the entire process could take about six weeks to complete.

IF YOU GO

The Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors will hold a special called meeting to kick off its downtown Danville hotel feasibility study at 9 a.m. Oct. 5.