Lost conventions worth $80 million
Four major conventions scheduled this month in Denver, which represented more than $80 million in economic impacts, have been canceled as concerns about coronavirus and the number of cases in Colorado rise.
Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver, said Thursday that the convention and visitors bureau is working to reschedule the conventions for later if possible. However, Scharf said in an email that the focus of discussions with partners and federal health and travel authorities is more on making sure Denver is prepared for what is a rapidly changing situation rather than cancellations.
“And each organization is evaluating decisions from their own perspective while sharing our concerns for all who are affected and doing all they can to keep travelers and
residents safe,” Scharf said.
Canceled events that were scheduled at the Colorado Convention Center include the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting set for March 2024. Nearly 19,000 people were expected to attend.
The American Physical Society’s March meeting, which was expected to bring 11,000 people from several countries to Denver, was also canceled.
“We’re pretty much fairly empty through the end of the month,” said Rich Carollo, the convention center’s director of sales and marketing.
The Colorado Crossroads volleyball tournament planned for this weekend at the convention center was called off. Another no-show will be the International Convention and English Language Expo that the TESOL International Association was supposed to hold March 30-April 3.
Organizers of the Denver Auto Show were discussing what to do, but as of Thursday they still planned to roll into the convention center April 2-5, said Chris Russell, a spokesman for Paragon Group.
Last year, the bookings through Visit Denver that included 80 different convention groups, public shows and meetings at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver generated about $555 million, Scharf said. Another 946 individual hotel meetings it handled contributed $231 million to the economy.
The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition said Thursday that it has canceled a March 19 panel discussion that was part of the annual Sunshine Week.
The coronavirus-related economic fallout has cascaded through the airline industry, hard hit as worried travelers have canceled trips and businesses and organizations have halted travel by employees and members. The industry took a beating on Wall Street on Thursday after President Donald Trump’s announced restrictions on travel to the U.S. from Europe.
Three Lower Downtown hotels are offering a $99 student rate to university students whose schools have gone to online classes and are affected by travel restrictions. The Crawford Hotel at Denver Union Station and The Oxford Hotel are extending the offer until May 31, and The Maven at Dairy Block is offering it until April 30.
Norwegian Air suspended its first flights from Denver International Airport to Rome until the end of May, airport spokeswoman Emily Williams said. The service was to start March 31.
The move comes as Norwegian is cutting 4,000 flights from its schedule and grounding 40% of its long-haul aircraft. Anders Lindstrom of Norwegian Air said in an email that the airline is delaying the return of its seasonal nonstop flight between Denver and Paris.
Norwegian’s service to London-Gatwick will operate as normal, with summer seasonal service scheduled to resume March 28, Williams said in an email.
Other changes in airline schedules include Lufthansa’s cancellation of service between Denver and Frankfurt and Munich until further notice. One Icelandair flight is scheduled to leave Denver on Saturday, but other service to Reykjavik will be suspended during the 30-day U.S. travel restrictions.
United Airlines, DIA’s dominant carrier, is waiving fees for schedule changes for domestic and international flights through April 30, spokeswoman Erin Benson said in an email. United will continue to fly its regular schedule from Europe to the U.S. through March 19 to provide service to U.S. citizens who want return, Benson added. After that, the airline expects to fly daily to Zurich, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Manchester and Edinburgh, Frankfurt and Munich and operate 18 daily flights to and from London, three to Dublin and less frequent flights to Lisbon.
To boost interest in domestic travel, Frontier Airlines is offering 90% discounts on flights to nearly all of its more than 100 destinations. The fares are available until 9:59 p.m. MDT on March 16.
At Colorado AAA, the staff is working extra hours and adding more people to handle all the calls and to reschedule or cancel trips.
“We’ve been pretty consistently busy, really for the two weeks,” said Colorado AAA spokesman Skyler McKinley.