Grijalva rescinds his call for convention boycott
Grijalva rescinds his call for convention boycott
by Dawn Gilbertson -
July 28, 2010 02:26 PM
The Arizona Republic
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat whom hoteliers say started the tourism blacklisting of the state with his calls for a convention boycott to protest the new immigration law, today rescinded his call for a boycott.
Grijalva said the federal judge's preliminary injunction preventing several sections of Arizona's new immigration law from going into effect Thursday is a good time to "pause and see what the next step is."
As part of that pause, he said in a statement, "I am encouraging national groups to return their conventions and conferences to the state to help us change the political and economic climate."
In an interview, Grijalva said the pressure he hoped to exert with his April calls for economic sanctions - he takes issue with the term "boycott" - did not have the intended effect on Gov. Jan Brewer, State Sen. Russell Pearce and other supporters of the law.
"I'm convinced that Jan Brewer and Russell Pearce wouldn't care . . . if nobody from the outside came into the state," he said.
Grijalva, who had previously not responded to the industry's requests to rescind the boycott, said he will "lend a hand" to the tourism industry to get conventions to come to Arizona.
That doesn't mean he's going to do an about-face and be the poster child for boosting tourism, however.
"I'm not going to pander," he said. "I am not going to get a list from the visitors and convention bureau and start dialing each number."
Instead, he said, he will support the efforts of groups that are publicly opposed to the law. Those who "don't have the guts to take a position on the law" shouldn't expect a hand, he said.
Grijalva said the tourism industry has falsely blamed him for the backlash.
"The day it was signed is when the economic consequences began on this state," he said.
Debbie Johnson, chief executive officer of the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association, called Grijalva's decision important.
"I'm happy to hear it," she said.
But it's unreasonable to expect that rescinding the boycott will "magically bring everybody back," she said.
The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown hotel alone has estimated it has lost up to $9 million in revenue over the next several years from canceled bookings and tentative bookings that never were finalized after the immigration bill was signed into law April 23. The figure excludes groups who simply won't consider Arizona as a meetings site anymore, which many see as the biggest tourism threat from the immigration law.
Johnson would like to see Grijalva take an active role in helping the industry with its planned efforts to launch a major national and possibly international advertising and marketing campaign to improve Arizona's bruised image.
"My hope is that he will now help us find a significant amount of money that it's going to take to help bring visitors and businesses back to Arizona," she said.
Brewer has given a new tourism task force $250,000 to help with the backlash, but Johnson said that's just a start. A significant campaign will cost between $10 million and $20 million, she said.
Brian Johnson, managing director of Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, earlier this month criticized Grijalva for not responding to the industry's concerns.
Today, he said he's thankful for Grijalva's decision to publicly rescind the boycott, even if the congressman didn't use those words.
"I don't think it's ever too late to make an apology," Johnson said.
It's too early to say whether it will bring business back, he said.
"Whether we can start to turn this or not, only time's going to tell."
Reach the reporter at dawn.gilbertson@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8617.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/artic ... ycott.html
