Skift Take
Tourism bureaus in North Carolina are losing significant convention business due to the governor's new anti-LGBT law, so they need to start collecting as much data as possible to support a potential amendment.
The value of a tourism bureau is never more evident than during disasters, both natural and political.
The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA) is presently undergoing the latter.
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2 (HB2) into state law last month, removing certain rights for the LGBT community and preventing cities and municipalities from passing local laws that grant any additional rights. Less than a month later, according to the Charlotte Observer, 13 convention organizers have either cancelled their events or pulled their interest in hosting any meetings in Charlotte.
All of them stated directly that their decisions were based on HB2's inflammatory and discriminatory anti-LGBT bias.
Meanwhile, companies like PayPal have cancelled plans to expand operations into the state. Fueling the negative publicity nationwide, Bruce Springsteen cancelled a scheduled concert in Greensboro, and there's a groundswell of calls to move the 2017 NBA All-Star game away from Charlotte.
