Visit Anaheim and more than 100 other tourism groups have sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom in an attempt to receive industry guidelines for when business meetings, events and conventions in California can resume.
Tourism hubs, such as Anaheim, have been among the hardest hit in the state by the pandemic amid travel restrictions.
The letter notes these cities are losing out on notable business not just in 2021, but in 2022 and beyond, “because of the uncertainty caused by a lack of guidelines.”
“For every month California delays opening for business meeting and events, the state is losing $4.1 billion in economic activity,” the group said, pointing to data from two Oxford Economics studies released last year.
Like theme parks, the meetings and events industry is not included in the governor’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
“We’re not asking Governor Newsom to open California to business meetings and events tomorrow, we’re asking for a plan today so we can safely hold events in the future,” said Barb Newton, president and CEO of CalTravel, who added that “nearly all other states are safely holding business meetings, events and conventions right now.”
“We thought 2021 was going to be our rebound year, but unfortunately that’s turning out not to be the case,” said Visit Anaheim President and CEO Jay Burress. “Of course, part of this is due to the pandemic, but another is confusion about when California will be allowed to hold meetings and events. The sooner we can get clarity from the governor the better.”
Go here for more updates on how OC companies are responding to coronavirus.
