3 conventions pull plans to host events in Orlando over state's recent laws

Orlando conventions canceled over politics

Several major conventions have canceled their plans to come to Orlando — and organizers say politics and Gov. Ron DeSantis are to blame.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Sad news for Con of Thrones fans in Central Florida – the convention celebrating the popular HBO show has been canceled.

"I hate it, I hate it," said Melissa Anelli, who organizes the event which would have attracted nearly 2,000 people to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in August. She blames politics for people not wanting to go.

"I’ve never seen the kind of push back since all of (Florida Gov. Ron) DeSantis’ regulations have been coming down the pike," she said.

That includes the Parental Rights in Education bill and six-week ban on abortion law.

"My own staff was feeling incredibly unsafe in going to the state," Anelli added. "There are advisories against travel in several of the LGBTQ groups. The Human Rights campaign, the NAACP are all issuing travel advisories. We didn’t feel comfortable going forward and also contributing to the State’s tax dollars when this was going on."

Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond said the cancelations affect tax dollars and jobs locally.

"I’m disappointed to hear that, because it’s got a big impact on Orange County," he said.

Three other organizations also canceled their conventions due to politics:

2024 AnitaB.org Grace Hopper Celebration
2027 AORN (Association of perioperative Registered Nurses) Global Surgical Conference & Expo
2024 National Society of Black Engineers

"You want to see them putting money into the economy and into the pockets of Orange County workers," Diamond said.

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Visit Orlando said hotel bookings from June to August are up 15% compared to this time last year, but they have gotten calls from concerned travelers.

"We’ve been connecting with each client individually to discuss their concerns and educating them on both our welcoming and inclusive destination and the specific legislation," they said in a statement.

Joshua Wallack, owner of Mango's Tropical Café opened up about the potential loss of business.

"You never want to lose business, but also we want to make sure that we understand, and we hope to see them again next year when this is passed by us," he said.

Meanwhile, Anelli said she's now in a feud with the hotel because they want to charge her a $50,000 cancelation fee.

"We’ve brought hundreds of thousands of people into the state. We love Orlando, we wish this wasn’t happening," she said.