A Note from Ernie - January 2020

Dear Friends,

I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the devastating tragedy that took place this past Sunday in our community. We are all shocked by the passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the additional seven lives lost. This is truly an unimaginable loss for their families, our City of Angels and the world. Our thoughts go out to the friends and families impacted by this unfortunate incident.

One of our greatest heroes, Kobe was a champion for Los Angeles on and off the court who provided countless memories for Angelenos and so many of our visitors from all over the globe. He was a very good friend of Los Angeles Tourism, having lent his time on several of our initiatives including our most recent celebration of 50 million visitors. As such, our social channels like Instagram feature imagery that pays tribute to Kobe and the additional lives lost.

With a heavy heart, we wanted to also provide a timely update on coronavirus, an emerging development which we are monitoring very closely. We have aggregated available and relevant information in this month’s News & Notes section which includes an updated toolkit from the U.S. Travel Association for your reference.

This is just one of the many updates from Los Angeles Tourism that we’re sharing with you in January’s newsletter. As always, we will continue to work on behalf of our members and partners to bring the world to Los Angeles.

Best wishes,
​​

Ernest Wooden Jr.
President and CEO
Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board