California Economic Summit goes virtual amid pandemic
MONTEREY, Calif. (KION) The California Economic Summit and State of the Region are being held virtually this year as the pandemic continues.
Both events would have been held at the Monterey Conference Center and would have brought in much needed tourism dollars to the region between hotel stays and sales tax.
The City of Monterey relies on dollars from tourism flowing into local businesses and supporting the budget to keep public services going. Conferences are just one way to stimulate the economy.
The State of the Region, discussing topics from the coronavirus to economic recovery and wildfires in our area, was forced to go online due to the pandemic.
While that gives the opportunity for more people to attend, this also mean another hit to the hospitality industry.
“It’s really a shame too, because we were going to roll right from our event into the California Economic Summit, which for the first time we were going to host here in our region and that’s over a thousand people that would have been in Monterey,” Monterey Bay Economic Partnership President & CEO Kate Roberts. “But sadly, that’s all happening virtually too, of course, because of the pandemic.”
The Monterey Conference Center General Manager Doug Phillips estimates the summit would have brought in roughly $500,000-600,000 worth of business to the community including restaurants, shops and hotels.
But they have even larger events that have been put on hold. Phillips said the conference center last held an in-person event in March.
“It’s been a significant loss to the city,” Phillips said. ”We had to lay off about 80 percent of our staff here at the conference center, along with pretty much every hotel and most of the restaurants.”
Monterey has had a significant drop in tourism during the pandemic, which when added up typically brings in around $47 million a year and accounts for more than a third of the city’s budget.
The Assistant City Manager told KION the city is estimated to lose $31 million over two years due to COVID-19. Reports indicate the fiscal loss is only second to the City of Anaheim, home to Disneyland.
So what would it take for some recovery? Phillips says a vaccine will play a big role.
“I really don’t see that we will have much business or be allowed to do any sort of physical events, group programs, until we have a vaccine and people have been vaccinated,” Phillips said.
Phillips doesn’t expect full economic recovery until at least 2022 or 2023.
But there is some good news: we're told California Forward, who produces the summit, will be back here for an in-person event next year.
