Businesses Plan Ways to Survive a Slow Spring

Less than an hour after baseball owners announced that they will lock players out of spring training barring a quick contract agreement, Linda Hitchins got her first cancellation.

“We had some tour groups booked in from Chicago, people who really follow the Cubs, and they called almost right away to drop some rooms from their block,” said Hitchins, general manager of the Holiday Inn in Mesa, Ariz.

But Hitchins planned ahead to make sure the bottom won’t drop out if a lockout disrupts spring training in Mesa, which plays host to the Angels for the first month of camp and also to the Cubs.

Anticipating that a lockout would result in a drop in tourism and reduced demand for rooms, Hitchins worked with the Mesa Convention Bureau to attract business and international tour groups that usually would not be accommodated during the busy period of mid-February to mid-March. She has kept a number of other groups on hold while awaiting news of the negotiations and said she hoped all those groups would bring the hotel’s occupancy level to 80%.

“We’re definitely losing some room nights and revenue,” Hitchins said. “The Convention Bureau has estimated we would lose 40,000 room nights in the month of March. Put it this way: We’re really hoping it’s resolved.”

The Angels’ rooms are being held for them at the Mesa Hilton. The hotel’s manager, Homer Sarem, said a lockout’s financial impact on his hotel will not be devastating.

“Whether they come or not, we’re going to be busy,” he said. “This is the season for people to take vacations. It would have a financial effect on the whole area, but I couldn’t tell you how much. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Ron Haas, general manager of the Ramada Renaissance in downtown Mesa, said a lockout could cost millions of dollars to an economy that already is reeling from the effects of a general economic downturn in the state.

“This hotel, fortunately or unfortunately, didn’t have any teams booked, so it wouldn’t be as bad for us as for hotels where teams are staying and have 70 rooms booked,” Haas said. “But we’re still going to see some fallout (cancellations) from Midwestern cities. We do plan heavily on spring training and it would be very difficult to catch up for the rest of the year.”