Hotel lobbyist president Brett Sterenson is a live-choose company that has worked primarily with government events and has 46 meetings cancelled, representing $1.9 million in lost hotel revenue. Last year, hotel lobbyists booked 467 global conferences worth $10 million.
“March 10 was the worst day to be cancelled since the pandemic and the worst day I have in 18 years,” Sterrenson said. “I hope these numbers will double in the middle of the year.”
The federal government layoffs led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will lead to cancellation. Challenger Gray with Christmas Challenger said about 62,242 federal workers were fired this year.
“Because they are unable to sign traditional cancellation and churn clauses and their lower interest rates, there is always a risk that hotels may engage in government business, but the compensation for rewards makes up for its incredible amounts,” he said.
When will government business return be a question. “I will have to start from scratch with many government agencies to determine the task that will be undertaken by the meeting. “Twenty years of hard work,” Strunson said. ”
Sterrenson said the cancellations were wide. They include meetings from the U.S. National Department, Education, Labor, Defense and Health, and IRS.
The conference included topics of domestic and international participants including entrepreneurship, cultural heritage, identity theft, cross-border relationships, forensic science, AI, environmental cleanup, rare disease research and racial justice.
So much uncertainty
“It feels like a mini magazine,” said Carolynne Nowrouzi, founder of the site selection and contract negotiation company Toplandi Group. “There is a lot of uncertainty.”
Government business accounts for approximately 30% of Toplandi’s customer base. A 150-person event scheduled for March was cancelled and efforts were provided for the conference in 2025 and 2026.
“The government shut down, the financial crisis, it gets stuck in government meetings every few years, but they always seem to rebound,” she said.
Other areas of her business are being affected. “My company and association meeting registration numbers have dropped 20% to 30% this year,” Nowrouzi said.
She believes that now is a critical moment for cooperation in the business activities industry. “Hotels need to be more flexible than usual when there are fewer registrations and churn rates,” she said.
Event technology has also been affected by cancellation
Innevent CEO Pedro Góes is the CEO of an event technology company whose clients include NASA, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the SEC and FDIC, and 13-17% of its government operations have been affected. “We work two to three years ahead of schedule and expect to see more cancellations at the end of this year (starting next year),” Goss said.
He is full of optimism. “Hopefully it’s just for shock, some of these government employees will be rehired and the contract will be awarded soon,” he said. “It’s going to be confusing, but it may be possible.”
Zeb Irshad Reyaz, CMO, event technology company Dryfta has seen attendance decline. A recent collaboration between John Hopkins University Conference and Dryfta is expected to have 2,500 attendees. This number dropped to 1,000.
Most of the attendees at these meetings come from government agencies. With recent layoffs, this number will drop significantly. ” Reyaz said.
Some of Dryfta’s smaller meetings have been cancelled. “Especially those who rely on federal funds or rely on travel in areas affected by policy changes,” he said.
