"Whether the US gets hit harder than the rest of the world depends on if there are significant outbreaks and in which countries. They've had a couple of cases in the UK and Spain. This is going to have to be a case of wait and see."

"It's hard to say how much revenue will be lost. After SARS, GDP in East and Southeast Asia was down $18 billion, according to the Asian Development Bank. We really don't know and we are not going to know until we see the severity of this. If next week, it's on the front page of all the newspapers and still the lead stories on TV news, then there might be some impact. But up until then we should be very cautious about what we say about it. We've got enough other problems with the economy and with legislators on Capitol Hill making irrational statements about our industry and conventions and meetings. Forecasting what will happen when we don't know the severity of it could create major problems for our industry."

"It will be very short-term impact just like any other disaster. As soon as it's over and not on the front pages of the newspaper, people will go on their normal way. If you remember during the baseball strike people said they were never going to go back to a baseball game. Guess what? The next year, they had the highest attendance. People forget very quickly when it's not in their face."

"Hotel operators should have an emergency plan of what they should be doing and instruct their employees and even guests to do the things recommended by the CDC. We are preparing a paper for members on what they should tell their guests. They need to be prepared. But they shouldn't panic."