L.A. TOURISM'S MEMBER BENEFITS
Are you taking advantage of all the benefits L.A. Tourism offers its members? From networking events to advertising opportunities, there are several ways to engage with L.A. Tourism and get full value from your membership. Take a look below to find out more ways to get involved- remember to be proactive!
- Get involved in mixers! From being a host venue and providing services to contributing to raffle prizes, L.A. Tourism can find ways for almost anyone to get out in front of your fellow members.
- Access to the Membership Directory: the business to business marketing resource is the best way to connect and find ways to partner with your fellow members.
- A comprehensive convention & event calendar of what’s coming to Los Angeles is regularly updated and available so you’re able to get in front of meeting planners ahead of time to market your product and services.
- Don’t forget to check out your listing on our award-winning website, discoverLosAngeles.com – which receives more than 10 million unique visitors annually.
- You’ll be listed in the official Los Angeles Visitors Guide and the Meeting + Travel Professionals Guide, where appropriate. The Visitors Guide gives our visitors the tools to experience the destination and is sent directly to domestic and international leisure visitors, business travelers and convention delegates preplanning their trip to Los Angeles and can be found at strategic locations in the City such as hotels, museums, attractions and visitor’s centers. The Meeting Professionals Guide reaches many key customers including association, corporate and independent meeting planners as well as travel agents, tour operators and traveler wholesalers – both domestically and internationally.
- Member presentations are a great way for you to showcase and inform the L.A. Tourism staff about your services and to collaborate on ways to work in tandem.
- Accessing your membership account through the Extranet Member Portal allows you to update contact information, services, amenities and contacts to make sure everything is up-to-date. If you need your login information, please send a request to Anna Moghaddam at amoghaddam@latourism.org, or for questions, call (213) 236-2350.
- Make sure to keep our Public Relations team up to date by sending any newsworthy events to press@latourism.org.
- Get access to all teams at L.A. Tourism as we are happy to put you in touch with the appropriate teams vital to your business.
- Display collateral at L.A. Tourism’s Visitor Information Centers – we’ll be sure to display your brochures at the Hollywood & Highland and Convention Center locations.
- Make sure to utilize L.A. Tourism’s in-depth research materials, compiled by the in-house research department including domestic and international visitor profiles, market intelligence reports, travel statistics, trends in lodging, air traffic, consumer confidence and more.
- Advertising discounts for members on both print and digital opportunities are available to reach an engaged, targeted audience.
- This year, you’ll be able to attend L.A. Tourism’s Market Outlook Forum free of charge to get insight on the latest L.A. visitation forecasts and industry perspectives and take a first look at L.A. Tourism’s global sales and marketing plans for the year ahead.
- Participate in monthly FAM trips to showcase your product to top tour operators, travel agents, media and more for L.A.’s target domestic and international markets.
If you aren’t receiving any of this information or are having trouble accessing the extranet, please reach out to the Membership team:
Erika Swenson - eswenson@latourism.org
Anna Moghaddam - amoghaddam@latourism.org
L.A.’S LEADING CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS FEATURED IN ANNUAL VISITOR PROMOTION
More than 30 of L.A.’s leading museums and performing arts groups are featured in L.A. Tourism’s annual multiplatform cultural tourism marketing campaign “Culture LA: Find What Moves You,” now through May 17. Visitors who book a minimum of one night at an L.A. hotel can receive vouchers for admission discounts up to 50% for two adults as well as special offers at museum stores. Visitors will have the opportunity to sample the best of L.A.’s cultural offerings in art, dance, history, music and science —from the Annenberg Space for Photography to the Zoo.
Participating institutions in the 2015 campaign are:
Annenberg Space for Photography; Aquarium of the Pacific; Autry National Center; Battleship IOWA; California Science Center; Craft & Folk Art Museum; East West Players; Fowler Museum at UCLA; Geffen Playhouse; Getty Center & Getty Villa; Hollywood Museum; Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens; Japanese American National Museum; LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes; LA Stage Alliance; Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Los Angeles Master Chorale; Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust; Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Latin American Art; Museum of Tolerance; Music Center; NoHo Arts District; Skirball Cultural Center; Ronald Reagan Presidential Library; USC Pacific Asia Museum; Valley Performing Arts Center, and Zimmer Children’s Museum.
LOS ANGELES HOSTS WORLD'S LEADING LGBT TRAVEL CONVENTION
Nearly 500 travel professionals from 28 nations attended the Annual Global Convention of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), held in Los Angeles April 9-11 for the first time in the group’s 32-year history.
The four-day event included a buyer/suppliers marketplace with prescheduled appointments, nearly two dozen educational and professional development sessions, a consumer tradeshow and a fundraiser for the IGLTA Foundation.
A highlight of the convention was the opening gala reception hosted by L.A. Tourism at the Getty Center, after hours. In addition to superb food and drink, the reception featured performances by actor/comedian Leslie Jordan (“Will & Grace”), actress/comedienne Tig Notaro (“The American Life”) and the award-winning Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. Contributing sponsors to the opening gala reception included GayCities/Queerty, Here Media, Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau, TOWLEROAD, Visit California and Visit Pasadena.
The last time IGLTA held its annual convention in California was in 2000, and the last time it was held in Southern California was 1993. Each year, Los Angeles attracts an estimated 3.2 million gay & lesbian visitors, who spend more than $3.9 billion in the local economy.
INDUSTRY NEWS & NOTES
- Japan Airlines (JAL) launched nonstop Boeing 787 Dreamliner service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Osaka-Kansai International Airport (KIX) last month. This flight marks the first time these two major airports have been linked commercially – adding another aviation milestone for LAX.
- Aeromexico, Mexico's global airline launched operation of four weekly flights between Mexico City and Los Angeles with its Boeing 787 Dreamliner earlier this month.
- According to the Federal Aviation Administration, demand for air travel will grow at an average annual rate of 2.5% with 1 billion passengers traveling on U.S.-based carriers by 2029. The airline industry will thus increase capacity (more planes and extra seats), but at a measured pace to meet demand.
- According to the Los Angeles Times, spring air travel is expected to rise to the highest level since 2007. More than 134.8 million passengers are expected to fly this spring, which would result in a 2% increase over last year. Airlines for America, a trade group for the nation’s carriers, attributes the increase in travel to “rising U.S. employment and personal incomes, an improving economy, the highest consumer sentiment in a decade and the continued affordability of air travel.”
- Nearly 300 travel executives from cities and states across the United States descended upon Washington, D.C. last month for Destination Capitol Hill where they met with Congressmen and their staffs to discuss issues important to the tourism industry and educate policymakers about the power of travel. L.A. Tourism President & CEO Ernest Wooden Jr. and Senior Vice President, Business Affairs Patti MacJennett attended the program on behalf of Los Angeles.
- The National Travel and Tourism office reported the travel and tourism sector accounts for almost 7.8 million U.S. jobs, after growing 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2014. Travel-related job growth outpaced overall job growth (which increased 2.5% in the same quarter). Spend on travel grew at an annual rate of 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter.
- Leisure and hospitality was Los Angeles County’s leading sector in job growth for 2014, according to data released by the California Employment Development Department. Tourism is a significant driver of the leisure and hospitality sector as visitor spend in L.A. County last year helped support the sector’s 464,600 jobs. Of the 96,600 net jobs added in L.A. County last year, 26% (25,300) were within leisure and hospitality, making it the County’s fastest growing sector. Also, this growth results in a year-over-year increase of 5.8% from 2013, the highest increase above all other super-sector industries in L.A. County.