WASHINGTON – Federal government agencies and their employees have felt the effect of the automatic budget cutbacks known as the sequester, but some businesses are evidently also feeling the sting.

A study by the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Convention and Visitors Bureau has found that those automatic spending cuts are starting to be felt in the county.

The Capital Gazette reports that hotel occupancies in the region are down 3 percent over the last 90 days and were down 4.5 percent in June as travel has been scaled back.

Hotels wind up with empty rooms when big government installations such as Fort Meade and agencies such as the NSA cut back on seminars hosting out-of-town visitors.

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