With $66 billion at stake, tourism leaders urge Newsom to carry again profitable enterprise occasions

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A group of frustrated workgroups and tourism officials sent Governor Gavin Newsom a letter this week asking for clarification on when lucrative business meetings and corporate conventions can return to California.

These events were canceled at the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year, and while other elements of travel and tourism have resumed, the state has not put in place a plan to restore a vital source of income for hotels and restaurants, businesses and tourism, according to the group the hotel industry.

California business tourism represented $ 66 billion a year and supported 457,000 jobs before the pandemic, the group said. As other states relax restrictions, some conventions and conferences previously held in California will be relocated in 2022, the group said.

“If we don’t act soon, many of these events and jobs will be lost forever.” reads the letter, posted on March 3rd and signed by 134 companies and officials.

The signatories are hotels, accommodation and tourism associations and convention centers.

San Francisco had already lost conventions before the pandemic due to high hotel room prices and poor road conditions in the city center. Apple, Google, Facebook and Oracle have moved conferences out of town in recent years. The city’s tourist hubs have been quiet during the pandemic and total tourism spending in the city is down predicts a decline of $ 10.7 billion in 2020 and 2021 combined after 10.2 billion US dollars in 2019.

Last year in California 518,000 leisure and hospitality workers lost their jobs Total tourism spending declined by $ 86 billion from a 10-year high of $ 145 billion in 2019.

According to the California Hotel and Lodging Association, conventions and conferences account for 38% of total tourism spending and the industry is pushing for a swift return in 2021.

“We’re confident we’ve found ways to bring small and medium-sized meetings to a safe place,” said AJ Rossitto, legislative and communications coordinator for the California Hotel and Lodging Association. “We are waiting for the approval by the state, which recognizes this.”

Gregory Thomas is the editor of Chronicle for Lifestyle & Outdoor. E-mail: gthomas@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @ GregRThomas