A recession and subsequent company cutbacks on business travel could be responsible for lower attendance at the upcoming International CTIA Wireless 2009 trade show set for April 1-3 in Las Vegas.

Rob Mesirow, vice president of CTIA, said the most recent figures he’s seen are trending around 6 percent off last year’s attendance. Last year’s show saw about 40,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors. 

Mesirow said the number of exhibitors is on par with last year’s show and acknowledged the ailing economy is the main reason for lagging attendance numbers. 

A sign of the times, Nortel recently asked a judge to cancel 175 room reservations at Caesar’s Palace that the company had booked for CTIA. The reservations included a lavish penthouse suite that went for a whopping $2,300 a night.

Nortel drew criticism for having made the reservations while planning to file for protection from creditors.