2015 MARKET OUTLOOK FORUM
L.A. Tourism welcomed nearly 700 members of the local tourism community, a record attendance, to its third annual Market Outlook Forum, where the latest travel data and trends were unveiled to members in addition to the organization's global sales and marketing plans for the upcoming year.
Members also received insight from the region's major attractions including Universal Studios Hollywood, Disney and Warner Bros. Studios during a special hour-long panel. Attendees walked away with L.A. Tourism’s proprietary Marketing and Planning Resource Guide (a $725 value) to assist in making strategic decisions for their respective businesses. This critical tool combines nearly a quarter of a million dollars of facilitated marketing & business planning and is filled with exclusive L.A. market analysis, visitor profiles, spending habits and other market data.
After this year's program, members attended a special networking reception to collectively collaborate and explore unique marketing and sales opportunities with key L.A. Tourism departments, helping to create their own L.A. success story.
INDUSTRY NEWS & NOTES
New visitation forecasts from L.A. Tourism project that overall visitation to Los Angles is expected to set a new record for tourism with more than 45 million total visitors in 2015, an increase of 2.3% from the previous record-setting year. Domestic overnight visitation to Los Angeles is expected to grow 1.5% to more than 23 million in 2015 while international visitation is estimated to grow 3.2% to more than 6.7 million. Total visitor spend in Los Angeles is projected to grow 5.2% from $19.6 billion last year to more than $20 billion in 2015.
Hotel occupancy for the first half of 2015 reached 79.6% and is projected to total 79.3% for the entire year. RevPAR for the year’s first half totaled $122.83, an increase of 7.6% from 2014’s first half of $114.16. RevPAR for the entire year is forecasted to reach $123.25, an increase of 6.1% over 2014. Citywide convention business is also booming for Los Angeles with 32 conventions booked for 2016, the most for the city since 2001. Economic impact of these bookings is estimated to be $429 million.
More than 35.5 million Americans were expected to travel 50 miles (or more) earlier this month for Labor Day Weekend according to AAA. This expected figure constitutes a 1 percent increase from last year and a fourth consecutive growth in Labor Day travel. More than 13.5 billion was expected to be spent into the economy, up 2 percent from last year.
LAX officials forecasted that record-breaking 835,500 travelers will pass through the airport earlier this month for Labor Day weekend. This forecast constitutes a 7 percent increase from last year’s holiday weekend.