A Note From Adam - October 2022
Dear Valued Tourism Partners,
As we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Los Angeles this week, the deeply troubling local headlines are a poignant reminder that “inclusion” isn’t just a noun - it’s a verb and a call to action.
As Angelenos, we must make a conscious decision every day to help advance the cause of those who do not have full and equitable access to opportunity, and to always hold each other up, recognizing that what unites us is far more important than what divides us.
In our City of Angels, “Everyone Is Welcome” can’t just be a tagline - it has to be the guiding light that brings our community together, including residents and visitors alike.
On a more positive note, after a three-year hiatus, it was wonderful to see over 400 of you at our Market Outlook Forum last month. At its heart, Los Angeles Tourism is a Membership-based organization, and our collective success is dependent on your support and partnership!
Market Outlook Forum not only offered an inside look at key travel industry trends, forecasts, and strategies, but also provided the opportunity for participants to reconnect and collaborate on how to best welcome visitors, meetings, and events back to L.A. We were also thrilled to share our new national ad campaign, Now Playing, that celebrates the spirit of inclusion, imagination, and spontaneity that can only be found in Los Angeles.
Based on your survey feedback following Market Outlook Forum, we learned that many of you would like to do a “deeper dive” on the data and major trends impacting our industry. To that end, we’ll be scheduling a special Member Webinar with Wendy Kheel to provide a more in-depth look at this information. As you may recall, Wendy previously led our Tourism Insights team and is now part of the management team at Tourism Economics, so you won’t want to miss her presentation!
Shortly after Market Outlook Forum, I traveled to Frankfurt, Germany with 24 destination leaders from across the U.S. to join our colleagues from Brand USA for Travel Week Europe 2022. While there, we had the opportunity to meet with key members of the European media, travel trade, and airline industry to share all the exciting, new offerings in L.A.
As one of the primary gateways to the United States, it's no surprise that overseas visitation is vital to the Los Angeles economy. Based on my meetings with our colleagues in Europe, there’s no question that there is tremendous pent-up demand for travel to L.A., and we are aggressively capitalizing on this opportunity to accelerate the pace of recovery in our City of Angels.
For all these reasons and more, our local visitor industry is poised for outstanding performance in 2023 and beyond!
All my best,
Adam Burke
President & CEO
Los Angeles Tourism
