Sportfishing Summit said it is negotiating with several properties in Denver since holding its summitt in Galveston “is no longer feasible.” The organization also said that given the circumstances, it is scaling back its annual meeting for this year and focus on the committee and Board meetings.
The group said in a statement, “This isnt something that we would like to do given our original agenda, but we feel its the right thing to do this year.”
Sportsfishing Summitt said it had tried but was unable to identify a property in Houston that meets its requirements.
“As you know, Houston also took a direct hit from Hurricane Ike and sections of the city are still without power. There are many groups competing for available hotel space closer to the city center. We very much wanted to stay in Houston in order to accommodate Summit attendees who had already made plane reservations.”
The trade group said it is waiving the registration fee this year for members as a thank you for volunteering your time in support of the association. The fee for spouses and guests will only be $99. As for changes in destination, the group has been told that many airlines are waiving the change fees for travel that was affected by the hurricane.
Said the group in a statement, “We are still working out the myriad of details associated with the meeting. Additional e-mail updates are forthcoming including meeting and housing registration. We have moved both deadlines back to Friday, October 10.”
It concluded, “The American Sportfishing Association is the voice of the sportfishing industry. We need your attendance at the Summit and especially at the committee meetings to ensure that we speak with a collective voice on issues that affect this industry and your business. These are tough times and we know this is an investment of time and money, but our industry needs your perspective and experience to lead us into the future.”
