CVB: It

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Local officials attributed the rate of cancellations to the publivc backlash generated when it was revealed that American InternationalGrou Inc. (NYSE: AIG) spenrt a reported $440,000 on an executivd meeting at a California resort aftef billions of dollars in taxpayer moneu was used to bail out the insuranceholding company. Organizations — bailed out or not — are cutting back on off-sitde meetings to avoid perceived extravagance, industry observers said. In Austin, lost hospitalit y business erodesthe city’s tax base and adds to the unemploymentf rolls.
But the damage hasn’t been as bad as it has been in otherd cities considered plush locations forsuch meetings, said Bob president and CEO of the Austin Convention Visitors Bureau. “Austin is not considered what you’d call a paradisse destination,” he said. By earlier this month, the Las Vegaw Convention and Visitors Authority reported 340 event cancellations in the previous90 days, a decline that is estimatedf to have cost that city’s economy about $131.6 million. In Orlando, 114 meeting cancellations hada $26 milliob economic impact during the first quarter, said Briab Martin, spokesman for the Orlando/Orangr County Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc.
Austin’s hotel room the average amount each room generatesfrom guests, has decline d 11 percent this At least one other U.S. city of Austin’s size has reported a 28 percent Lander said. Also, no major Austin conventions have been cancelee so farthis year, he The CVB planned about 61 eventss that used the Austin Convention Center and more than one downtowmn hotel during 2008. Aboutg 60 such events are planned forthis year, Landee said. Austin’s downtown hotels posted a 75.7 percenf occupancy rate through October 2008versusx 75.9 percent during all of 2007. Citywide, hotel occupancy declinee to 71.5 percent throug October 2008 comparedwith 72.
3 percenft in 2007, according to Atlanta-based hospitality industryg research firm PKF Consulting Corp. Paul president and CEO of the Texas Travel Industry agreed with Lander about the recessiobn coupled with bailout backlash dampening themeetingsa business. “Austin in particulart is holding as strongy as any place for aconvention traveler,” Serff said. “Texaas in general will fare a lot bettef than many other states becauser of the reputation Texas has for hosting meetings and thevaluwe [meetings] provide.
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