As I write this month’s edition of “Words from Wooden,” I am travelling alongside fellow L.A. Tourism officials to China to commemorate the anniversary of our Beijing office opening ten years ago.

We take tremendous pride in the fact that our Los Angeles tourism office in Beijing was the first from any U.S. municipal tourism marketing organization to open full-time in all of China back in 2006. Since that time, we have seen a 650% increase in Chinese visitation to Los Angeles, propelling China to become our number two international market.

These remarkable results in the last decade have positioned Los Angeles to expand our China footprint with additional offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou. And we continue to evaluate opportunities for growth as the Chinese visitor market will be crucial to the future of L.A.’s tourism industry.

I’m pleased to report that more than $20.3 million in Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) was generated in July, a 4.5% year-over-year increase. Our projections show TOT collections for this fiscal year will reach another record high at a total of $240.8 million, an estimated 7% year-over-year growth.

These are just a few of the many updates on L.A. Tourism and our industry that we’re sharing with you in this month’s newsletter. As always, we will be here, working on behalf of all of our members and partners to keep the world coming to Los Angeles.

Best wishes,

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