Los Angeles Tourism CEO Sees International Arrivals as Key to Full Recovery
Photo Credit: LAX airport expects an international arrival surge starting on November 8. Discover Los Angeles / Courtesy of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board
Skift Take
As the U.S. prepares to reopen fully to the vaxxed, Los Angeles is seeing signs of demand from Canada, the UK and even Australia — proof that one of America's most popular cities is far from dead.
When California reopened in mid-June, Los Angeles’ optimism was running high for its tourism industry rebound. Weekend occupancy was consistently on the rise, while the city’s vaccination rate ranked among the highest in the state.
But California’s rural destinations such as Yosemite were rebounding faster than its cities, so the reopening of the U.S. to all vaccinated international visitors in November is anticipated to be a game changer that will bring the real “comeback story” that Los Angeles had been hopeful for.
International tourists are vital to Los Angeles’ economy — out of the 50 million people that visited the City of Angels in 2019, which was a consecutive eighth year of record growth, over seven million were from overseas and accounted for 56 percent of all tourism spending.
Skift spoke with Adam Burke, CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, about the early signs of international pent up demand shaping up for the
