AUSTIN (KXAN) — Some Austin business owners are calling for a full cancellation of all 2020 South by Southwest events due to ongoing global coronavirus concerns.
A cancellation would have tremendous financial repercussions on the city: The annual festival increased its economic impact to the City of Austin to $355.9 million in 2019, according to an analysis by Greyhill Advisors and South by Southwest.
READ: SXSW 2019 reports higher economic impact for Austin in 2019
But other Austin entrepreneurs believe hosting another year of tech, movie and music enthusiasts from around the world puts the entire city at risk to harmful contamination.
“It’s almost a guarantee, if you bring a half a million people to Austin, you tremendously increase your chance of an untrackable corona outbreak,” said Garrett Wood, the President and Founder of GetSales Inc., an Austin startup.
While Wood concedes the festival is a massive economic driver for many Austin industries, he said startups like his will suffer.
“The businesses that have benefited are not going to pay my increase in insurance premiums or handle the problems that arise from having an entire office working from home,” Wood said.
READ: Twitter CEO pulls out of SXSW; Petition to cancel conference reaches 15,000 signatures
So far, more than 22,000 people have signed a petition calling for SXSW event organizers to cancel the event. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is one of the most prominent featured speakers to have pulled out of the SXSW featured speakers lineup after the company said it was banning “all non-critical business travel and events.”
READ: 14,000 sign petition calling for SXSW to be cancelled over coronavirus fears
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