Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau and Convention Center join Tourism Officials to Call on Governor Newsom to Immediately Issue Guidelines for Business Meetings, Events and Conventions
Lack of Guidelines is Preventing California from Competing with Other States for Business in 2022 and Beyond

​Frustrated officials representing California’s business travel, events and conventions industry are calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to immediately issue statewide guidelines clarifying under what conditions business meetings, events and conventions in California can resume someday.

In a letter to Governor Newsom released today signed by 133 tourism officials and labor groups, advocates said California is losing business and jobs to other states not just today but in 2022 and beyond because of the uncertainty caused by a lack of guidelines.

They called on Governor Newsom to focus his attention immediately on this sector of the economy which accounted for $66.1 billion in direct spending and 457,000 jobs in 2019. For every month California delays opening for business meeting and events, the state is losing $4.1 billion in economic activity. This data comes from two studies from Oxford Economics released in October 2020.

In the letter, tourism and labor officials say that the governor’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy makes no mention of business meetings, events and conventions and no guidelines for safe future re-openings have been issued or even discussed by the Newsom administration. Potential clients looking to book events in California see this as a signal that California is closed indefinitely.

“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 & CEO, CalTravel. “These events bring more than just direct revenue and jobs. They bring people who spend money on hotel rooms, restaurants, local shops and services. The ripple effect is huge and benefits both large and small communities but we’re losing the benefits to other states.”

Newton pointed out that nearly all other states are safely holding business meetings, events and conventions right now. The California travel industry finalized a plan in June 2020 which outlined how California could also safely hold meetings. It adhered to standards established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and included best practice recommendations for sanitation, staff training, physical distancing, and communication.

But the Administration has yet to adopt it or release guidelines of its own.

In the meantime, California is losing revenue and jobs as customers are backing out of events for late 2021, 2022 and beyond.

“Business meetings and events create thousands of jobs locally. The lack of guidelines is devastating for our industry,” said Jeanne Goldschmidt, Executive Director, Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Over 500 events have been canceled locally and will continue to cancel without clarity on business meetings in California.”

The COVID-19 global pandemic has crippled Pasadena’s economy especially in the tourism industry: closing hotels, restaurants, small businesses, and entertainment venues. The heaviest toll on job loss has been in the hospitality community accounting for 43% of all job loss in LA County (Tourism Economics).

Cities across California anticipate an 89% decline in TOT in 2020 (California League of Cities). Locally in Pasadena, hotel occupancy and average daily rates have dropped 50% and 30% respectively (STR). An estimated decline of 8.6M in TOT and 3.5M in TBID is projected for FY21 and FY22. Over 500 events have been canceled at the Pasadena Convention Center amounting to a loss of $15M in revenue. In addition, Pasadena hotels have lost over $92M in revenue to date.

This exploitation is happening because planning and booking for this sector of the economy requires several months and sometimes years of lead time. Convention centers, hotels and other meeting venues can’t compete for future events - including the jobs and desperately needed local revenue that come with them - when it appears California is closed indefinitely.

Even if the governor issued guidelines tomorrow, communities and California stand to lose billions more revenue and thousands of hard-working Californians will remain out of work. 

Every other state released protocols, and many have been safely holding meetings during the pandemic, but California has prohibited meetings of any size since the state’s stay at home order went into effect on March 19, 2020.

The Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau is a non-profit marketing organization dedicated to promoting Pasadena as a leading meeting, convention and leisure travel destination. For more information, go to www.VisitPasadena.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at @VisitPasadena.
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The Pasadena Convention Center is the premier meetings, entertainment, and events venue in the heart of Pasadena. The 130,000 sq. ft. venue accommodates meetings of all sizes with spacious exhibit halls, an expansive ballroom and over a dozen breakout rooms. The Pasadena Convention Center is proud to be a LEED Gold certified and GBAC Star accredited facility. It is professionally managed by the Pasadena Center Operating Company. In recent years, the Pasadena Convention Center has averaged over 300 events and attracted over 350,000 attendees. For more information, visit www.PasadenaCenter.com.

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