Hospitality's essential to the future growth of Downtown Denver as a world-class destination, but what's the outlook for hotels in Denver as more rooms come online? Find out at our Future of Downtown Denver event on Sept. 21 at 1660 Lincoln.

The future for Downtown Denver hotels is moving towards "experiential, authentic and unique destination experiences to align with the ongoing demographic shift of travelers and their expectations," AC Hotel-Le Meriden Denver managing director Paul Eckert, who will be a speaker at the event, tells us. "Unlocking the city to the urban spirit of both inbound and local travelers is more present in hotel concepts and development than ever before."

Hotel occupancy in 2015 in the Denver market reached a record 75.9%, according to the mid-year Rocky Mountain Lodging Report, though it probably won't be quite as high this year, as new rooms come to market. Even so, the market will sell about 175,000 more room nights this year than last.

Demand will likely keep up. "The continued growth and development of inbound corporations and startups to the metro area is in line with the increased supply of hotel keys," Paul says. Pictured: the 495-room dual flag AC Hotel-Le Meriden Denver, which is underway by White Lodging in Downtown.

Our Future of Downtown Denver event begins at 7:30am on Sept. 21 at 1660 Lincoln, a property recently transformed by Unico Properties. Sign up here.