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CRUISING: The new Allure of the Seas cruise ship is divided into seven “neighborhoods” that offer activities and entertainment — including a carousel — for every taste. For more information, see p. 20.
PLENARY
CONTROVERSIAL: Will Arizona’s immi- gration law cost the state $217 million in meetings business?
News and notes for the meetings and conventions industry
Putting a Price Tag on the Arizona Immigration Law
ON THE WEB: To read Stop the Conference, visit www.american progress.org/ issues/2010/11/ az_tourism.html.
OW LONG WILL IT BE BEFORE THE economic impact of Arizona’s new im- migration law on the state’s meetings business can be fully measured? Right now. At least, according to the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal public-policy think tank that has released a new report called Stop the Conference: The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Conference Cancellations Due to Arizona’s S.B. 1070. CAP’s conclusion: Thanks to the new law —
which includes some of the nation’s strictest measures for identifying and prosecuting illegal immigrants and people who hire or otherwise assist them — Arizona has lost $141 million in direct spending from meetings that have canceled. The state stands to lose an addi- tional $76 million in “future booking declines,” for a total direct-spending loss of $217 million. And that could just be the beginning. “[T]he economic and fiscal consequences don’t stop continued on page 21
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PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREW GOMBERT
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