Name: High school coaching conference in San Antonio is canceled
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High school coaching conference in San Antonio is canceled

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A convention that was expected to draw thousands to San Antonio this month — and was seen as potentially the start of the tourism industry’s recovery — has gone the way of every other major event since mid-March: it’s canceled.The Texas High School Coaches Association is scrapping its in-person convention and coaching school, which was scheduled for July 19-21 at the Convention Center, and shifting to an online format.Organizers of the Texas Deer Association’s annual convention also have dropped plans to meet next month in San Antonio, which is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. They, too, are herding members into virtual sessions.JW Marriott Hill Country Resort &amp; Spa would have hosted the ranchers and deer breeders and hunters.The coaches association announced the cancellation nearly a month after saying it would go ahead with the convention as planned. It was the first large planned meeting of the year that had not been pulled or postponed because of the pandemic.“After these past few difficult months, it’s exciting to open our doors again to welcome the association to a safe, comfortable destination,” Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit San Antonio, said in a June 8 news release. “San Antonio is open for business again, and together we’ll play a winning role in Texas’ economic recovery.”But after consulting with its board of directors “and with due regard to the increased uncertainty of the COVID-19 climate in San Antonio,” the group said it decided not to risk exposing its attendees to the virus.“We had hoped for a decrease in the spread of the coronavirus as we neared the convention date, but the situation has evolved rapidly and we are committed to do our part to protect our attendees, sponsors, vendors and staff,” THSCA officials said in a statement. “This is an enormous disappointment and not a decision we have taken lightly.”The event was expected to draw about 5,000 people and bring in $7.8 million, according to Visit San Antonio, a public-private agency that markets the city to convention planners.“We appreciate the Texas High School Coaches Association working for as long as they did to try to hold their conference in San Antonio,” Matej said in the group’s cancellation announcement. “This was not an easy decision for the association and its leadership, and we know from our decades-long relationship with THSCA how much they enjoy coming to our destination.“While we feel we had gone above and beyond to ensure a very safe conference, we are in uncharted territory that is requiring difficult decisions for everyone.”Mayor Ron Nirenberg recently updated his emergency order to prohibit indoor or outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people. However, the Convention Center is exempt.“The city is following the protocols of temperature and symptom checks and requiring masks be worn in the building, unless a person is able to safely maintain social distance,” spokeswoman Laura Mayes said.The local order was among many factors that fed into the THSCA’s decision to scrap the event, said the group’s executive director, Joe Martin.“That order did cause a lot of people to pause and contact our office,” he said. “We had multiple things happen. It did not cause us to cancel, but it was a factor in the decision.”The convention cancellations are the latest blows to San Antonio’s tourism and hospitality sector.When the coronavirus arrived in the region in March, hotels and theme parks closed. Restaurants, stores and bars shut down, and attractions such as the River Walk — usually thronged with visitors — quickly emptied out.More than 40,000 hospitality industry workers lost their jobs between February and May, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported.A breakdown of key state and local races and candidates in the May 24 primary runoff.Since the pandemic’s onset, 116 meetings booked by Visit San Antonio have been canceled, spokesman Richard Oliver said. That represents 309,218 attendees, 340,848 hotel room nights and an economic punch of $204.4 million that didn’t land.Revenue from city sales and hotel occupancy taxes has plunged. To stem ballooning losses, City Manager Erik Walsh cut millions in spending in April, stopped funding contracts for arts programs and furloughed 270 employees.Visit San Antonio, which draws much of its budget from the hotel occupancy tax, furloughed about half of its staff in May.City officials may make more cuts, and economists recently told City Council members it could take more than five years for hotel tax revenue to return to prepandemic levels.Still, 133 conventions and meetings remain on the books for the rest of the year, which translates to 151,969 room nights and a projected economic impact of $98 million, Oliver said.Hotels, theme parks and restaurants began reopening in May and June, but Gov. Greg Abbott recently ordered bars and tubing and rafting outfitters to once again close.The tourism industry is focusing on attracting regional visitors driving to San Antonio from nearby cities. Visit San Antonio recently launched a campaign encouraging locals to take “staycations,” with deals at hotels and local businesses.Experts say leisure travelers likely will return long before convention-goers. Some conferences have moved online, and organizers are evaluating how to change programming and spacing at in-person gatherings to comply with safety recommendations.madison.iszler@express-news.netA breakdown of key state and local races and candidates in the May 24 primary runoff.

A convention that was expected to draw thousands to San Antonio this month — and was seen as potentially the start of the tourism industry’s recovery — has gone the way of every other major event since mid-March: it’s canceled.The Texas High School Coaches Association is scrapping its in-person convention and coaching school, which was scheduled for July 19-21 at the Convention Center, and shifting to an online format.Organizers of the Texas Deer Association’s annual convention also have dropped plans to meet next month in San Antonio, which is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. They,...

High school coaching conference in San Antonio is canceled

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