Shaq is Back!
Go behind-the-scenes with the Lakers and NBA legend, Shaquille O’Neal at the 12th annual Lakers All Access on Monday, January 25, 2016 beginning at 5 p.m. at STAPLES Center. Whether you’re a diehard fan or just want to enjoy a great evening on the court, you won’t want to miss Lakers All-Access. Shoot hoops, tour the locker room, take photos with the championship trophies and alumni, and call play-by-play on historic Laker moments. Dinner served on the court as Bill Macdonald interviews Shaquille O’Neal, Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Nick Young, Roy Hibbert, Byron Scott, James Worthy and more! Net proceeds from the event support the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation and the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission (LASEC), both nonprofit organizations. For more information check out sponsorship and ticket opportunities and email Kathryn Schloessman at kschloessman@lasec.us
L.A. Tourism Debuts meetLA.com
Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board launched meetLA.com, a brand new website designed as a comprehensive, one-stop gateway for meeting professionals looking to conduct business in Los Angeles, one of the world’s premier meeting destinations. Created specifically to fit the needs of meeting and event professionals, the site ensures buying decisions become simpler and stress-free. meetLA.com offers critical tools to navigate the city of Los Angeles with ease such as find a venue, compare venues and interactive mapping. Readily accessible from all mobile devices, meetLA.com boasts enriched creative and up-to-date content such as information on new and refreshed hotels, group dining, green meetings and airport options. Planners can easily contact L.A. Tourism sales staff directly with a click of a phone number or email.
LA Museum Season Generates 55,000 in Room Nights
This fall, LA Tourism’s fifth annual LA Museum Season marketing initiative generated more than 55,000 hotel room-night sales amounting to $10.6 million in gross bookings. Travelers who booked a minimum of two nights at any Los Angeles (TMD) hotel saved more than $450 in admission fees or gift shop discounts at 25 of L.A.’s top museums. The six week program ran Oct. 5 through Nov. 15 on OTA partner Hotels.com. It was also promoted across Expedia.com’s new Passport ad server and through social and earned media.
Nearly half of L.A.'s 44 million visitors engage in a cultural experience while here, and 20 percent travel to L.A. with the primary purpose of engaging in a cultural activity. In a national study of cultural tourism conducted by TNS Plog Research, L.A. had the highest percentage of visitors who attended a museum than any other major U.S. city.
Participating museums included Autry National Center; Annenberg Space for Photography & Skylight Studios; California Science Center; Craft & Folk Art Museum; Fowler Museum at UCLA; ; Getty Center; Getty Villa; Hammer Museum; Hollywood Museum; Japanese American National Museum; Kidspace Children's Museum; La Brea Tar Pits and Museum; LACMA; Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust; Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens; Museum of Contemporary Art; Museum of Latin American Art; Museum of Tolerance; Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Norton Simon Museum; Pasadena Museum of California Art; Skirball Cultural Center; USC Pacific Asia Museum; and USS Battleship IOWA Museum.
Karen Prideaux Joins L.A. Tourism
Welcome to Karen Prideaux who joins L.A. Tourism’s Sydney office as Travel Trade Manager Australia & New Zealand. Prideaux previously worked for Disney Destinations Australia as a trade manager for eight years. She will be responsible for trade relations across the Oceania market for L.A. Tourism, as well as promoting the redevelopment of LAX Airport.
Industry News & Notes
Los Angeles World Airports reported passenger traffic at LAX increased in October, as more than 6.4 million passengers moved through the airport. These numbers represent an 8.7% year-over-year increase. Domestic travelers also grew 7.2% to more than 4.6 million passengers while international travelers grew 14% to more than 1.7 million passengers. Through the end of Oct., more than 62.5 million people have traveled through the airport, a 5.4% increase over the same period a year ago.
Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, released its 2015-2016 Winter Holiday Air Travel Forecast, projecting 38.1 million passengers will fly on U.S. airlines during the 17-day period from Friday, Dec. 18 through Sunday, Jan. 3. This results in an increase of more than 3% or approx. 73,000 more travelers on each of those days compared to a similar period a year ago. Last year, 36.9 million customers were estimated to have traveled by air. A4A projects that 12 percent of those traveling will be on international flights.
Airlines for American also projects that the busiest travel days will be, (in order): Jan. 3, Dec. 18 and Dec. 27. Expect light travel days for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.