Los Angeles Tourism At Work - November 2022

IMEX America and ASEA Five Star Weekend Bring the Meetings Industry Together

IMEX America was back in full swing from October 11-13 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Los Angeles Tourism was represented by members of our executive team, services team, hotel and citywide sales teams and key partners. The three-day event saw 4,300 buyers in attendance and our team had the opportunity to host over 170 individual appointments along with 8 group appointments. 

In addition, our Chief Sales Officer Darren Green and CEO Adam Burke attended ASEA Five Star Weekend from October 13-16 in Palm Springs to connect with top association executives and final decision makers from a key segment of our citywide business. The Five-Star Weekend has been held for over two decades and is exclusively designed for association executives to network, learn, and discuss critical issues in our industry.

Los Angeles Tourism Travels to Guadalajara and Mexico City

Our team recently traveled to Guadalajara and Mexico City for a mission that included client events, airline meetings, media interviews and a gala event unveiling our new “Now Playing” campaign.

The team was joined by Board representatives, Los Angeles World Airports, the City Tourism Department, and Councilmember Buscaino, Chair of the City Council Committee for Trade, Travel and Tourism.  Mexico is Los Angeles' top international market, so this mission provided valuable opportunities to gather real-time insights and re-establish relationships with key travel trade, media and airline partners.

Chris Heywood Joins Los Angeles Tourism as Senior Vice President, Global Communications 

Los Angeles Tourism is excited to announce that Chris Heywood recently returned to the team as Senior Vice President of Global Communications. Chris previously served as L.A. Tourism's Manager of Corporate Communications prior to most recently working with NYC & Company, New York City's official destination marketing organization, as their Executive Vice President of Global Communications. He will be overseeing U.S. media relations, corporate communications and international PR in L.A.'s key markets.  Learn more about our media efforts and meet the rest of the team here. 

Asia-Pacific Flight Services to LAX Continue to Ramp Up

• United Resumes MEL-LAX Flight Service 
  In Australia, L.A. Tourism partnered with United Airlines to promote their new Melbourne to LAX service, which started on October 30. The month-long campaign to promote the daily service includes consumer advertising at Melbourne airport's key billboard sites, a consumer sweepstakes promotion in partnership with Visit California, and a Press FAM trip for two leading Australian journalists.
• American Airlines Resumes Daily Direct Services from HND-LAX
  Japan's border has fully reopened as of October 11, and L.A. Tourism is supporting this and the resumption of American Airline's daily direct flights from Tokyo's Haneda airport to LAX by partnering with SkyScanner.com to drive LAX bookings from the Japanese market. We also launched a consumer "win a trip" promotion with American Airlines that was hosted on our Japanese social channels. In addition, our team is partnering with Visit California to host an influencer trip with American Airlines, including a concert of Japanese popstar Miyavi at the Fonda Theater in L.A.
• Air Premia Launches new Korean Airline Service to LAX
  In Korea, L.A. Tourism launched a series of marketing programs to support Air Premia's new service from Seoul-Incheon Airport to LAX, starting on October 28. The marketing support program includes consumer digital advertising, a  travel trade sales incentive, and a training seminar, as well as hosting leading Korean Influencers on the inaugural flights to LAX with a content creation trip to Los Angeles.

L.A. Tourism Collaborates on Discover Destination's Event in Delhi

Los Angeles Tourism's India office recently collaborated with RTO Discover Destinations and in-market DMOs for a partner appreciation evening. The event was held in Delhi and was attended by cruise and travel trade clients.

As travel continues to increase in India, the event created an opportunity for partners and travel trade attendees to reconnect post-pandemic.  Prior to COVID, India was one of LA’s strongest growth markets, and the pent-up demand and interest in LA are evident.

Industry Trade Shows Return to Japan with TEJ 

In Japan, L.A. Tourism recently attended Tourism Expo Japan (TEJ), the largest annual tourism event in Asia. This is the first tradeshow we have exhibited at in Japan in three years. 

The 4-day trade show and exhibition was held at Tokyo Big Sight and attracted over 244,000 travel trade, media, and consumer attendees. L.A. Tourism met with travel buyers from over 40 leading companies and ran a consumer sweepstakes to promote our Japanese social media channels.

L.A. Tourism Joins LAWA at World Routes 2022

As we continue working toward a full international recovery, Los Angeles Tourism joined Los Angeles World Airports at World Routes, the premier aviation conference for route development in Las Vegas from October 16-18.

One-on-one appointments were held with airlines to attract and retain service to LAX. It is clear air service is key to international recovery, and LAX is back to 80% of pre-pandemic traffic with 1,726 weekly international flights to 72 cities in 39 countries.