Immigration law costs Arizona hotels $15 million

Travel boycotts, bill controversy and concern about future meeting attendance is causing meeting cancellations in Arizona and a lack of future business. That’s according to the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association, which estimates that the state’s hotels have lost $15 million as a direct result of SB 1070, even though the most controversial aspects of the bill were blocked by a judge before it became law in July.

It isn’t just the law that causes meeting planners to look at other destinations, says Kristen Jarnigan, spokeswoman for AHLA. It is also confusion surrounding the bill, planners fear of losing attendance and the negative attention the bill has placed on illegal immigration in the area, such as the implication of the crime that it causes.

The Arizona Republic reported that while it is still to early to determine that the bill has had a direct impact on the local economy, the Sheraton Phoenix — the largest hotel in the state — has had two groups cancel meetings booked for this year that would’ve been worth about $1.6 million in revenue, and has lost almost $2.5 million worth of business for 2011 and another $4 million to $5 million for the 2012-2014 period.