Christmas backs out

It sure looks a lot like Christmas at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas. Trees are decorated, the presents wrapped, but the lights have gone out on the extravagant holiday party.


"We have had a couple of major ones back out. The rooms are along this aisle."
Shannah Milstead is the director of sales and marketing for the Fairmont Hotel. Corporate party bookings here are down 15%.
"Every year we'd have major parties in the ballrooms, so those are the ones that are gonna be quiet this year."
Human resources consultant and author Sherrie Elliot says money is not the only reason companies are scaling back, when it comes to holiday parties.

"Making sure that the company has a good PR spin." Elliot says lavish soirees can be seen as bad form in this economy. "They don't want to send the wrong message that they are allocating dollars to the wrong place instead of covering benefits and 401k dollars they don't want to put into a Christmas party."


Fairmont says it still has hundreds of holiday parties on its books, just less extravagant ones. For example open bars may now be cash bars, and many holiday dinner parties are turning into luncheons.


"It still gives people the ability to, to gather but it lowers the cost, plus if you do something at lunch time you usually not involving spouses, so you can still bring your employees over but you don't necessarily have to bring the spouses in the evening."