Dear Member,

What a wonderful time of year this is!  We all look forward with great anticipation to welcoming friends and family for time-honored holiday celebrations that fill our lives with joy, meaning and treasured memories. 

But even as the nights are cooling down in Los Angeles, our work at L.A. Tourism is heating up.  

Last week, we celebrated news from President Obama that the U.S. and China have signed a bilateral agreement to extend the validity of visas from one year to ten years for eligible travelers, the longest validity possible under U.S. law. It is a reciprocal agreement that became effective almost immediately.

For Chinese travelers visiting the U.S., the new agreement eliminates the burdensome and expensive task of applying for visas annually. The new agreement facilitates visitation from Los Angeles’ largest and fastest growing overseas market, a huge boom to the tourism and hospitality industries. Last year alone, some 570,000 Chinese nationals visited Los Angeles and spent $955 million. The volume of Chinese nationals visiting Los Angeles is expected to grow nearly 30 percent by 2016.

Earlier this year, L.A. Tourism launched the China-Ready Training & Designation Program, designed to help Los Angeles hospitality providers capture a greater share of U.S. in-bound Chinese visitors by better understanding the cultural needs and desires of Chinese travelers. Since the launch, ten L.A. business have met the requirements to successfully complete the program: we congratulate Art Muse Los Angeles, Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Harbor Breeze Cruises, Hilton Los Angeles/ Universal City, Hotel Palomar Los Angeles – Westwood, Macy’s, Montage Beverly Hills, Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel, The Langham Huntington Pasadena and TRG Golf, Inc. 

Domestically, L.A. Tourism will launch a new “Winter in L.A.” marketing initiative aimed to generate Tourism Marketing District (TMD) hotel room-night sales during the shoulder season - from December through February - by offering incentive packages and hotel-driven special offers to visitors.  The program begins Dec. 8. 

The program focuses on consumers’ desire to spend winter holiday vacations with friends and family. January and February also have three-day weekends — ideal for cold weather visitors looking for a welcome break from a grueling winter in many cold cities.  And this year, Valentine’s Day falls on Presidents’ Day weekend for an added incentive for visitors to plan a warm, romantic getaway. 

We are well on our way to hitting our goal of 50 million visitors by 2020, and are looking forward to finishing 2014—and beginning 2015—in a big way.  Happy holidays to all!

Best wishes,

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