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Wells Fargo Subsidiary Cancels St. Pete Beach Conference

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By TED JACKOVICS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 11, 2009

CLEARWATER - Companies that took billion-dollar taxpayer bailouts have pulled back from corporate trips perceived as extravagant. Now the withdrawal is being felt in Tampa Bay.

A Wells Fargo & Co. insurance subsidiary canceled a meeting and four-day stay for about 150 people at the TradeWinds Island Resorts on St. Pete Beach less than 48 hours before the bookings were to begin on Monday, said Tim Bogott, TradeWinds president.

Bogott said he'd been told Wells Fargo has canceled 100 trips since news reports that the company planned a convention in Las Vegas as an incentive for mortgage officers.

The TradeWinds reservations for Rural Community Insurance Services would have generated between $250,000 and $300,000 for the hotel, although Bogott said he expected to recoup at least a portion of the money through contracts that were signed.

"We're not Las Vegas," Bogott said. "This was a business meeting. Incentive (trips) drive capitalism."

Officials of the Tampa Convention Center and Tampa Bay & Co., Hillsborough County's visitors bureau, said no companies have canceled conferences at the convention center this year.

Bookings are slightly ahead of pace from a year ago, but officials are holding their breaths about possible reductions in numbers of travelers, they said.

In Pinellas County, overnight visitors in 2008 declined by 2 percent to 5.2 million compared with 2007, figures released Wednesday showed.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.

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