Hollywood Bowl

Welcome to Los Angeles, where bold innovation and cutting-edge ideas take fl ight daily. So bring your fi erce individuality and prepare to foster your creativity. It’s time to MEET L.A. Learn more at meetLA.com.

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“Get Lost in L.A.” The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (L.A. Tourism), also known as Discover Los Angeles, is the city’s official tourism marketing organization. Ernest Wooden Jr. came onboard in early 2013 when visitors numbered 41 million for the previous year. That number reached 45.6 million in 2015, marking a record for the fifth consecutive year. Wooden attributes this to L.A.’s “abundance of riches,” referring to not only the iconic beaches, mountain backdrops, and burnt-hued sunsets that evoke the classic “Los Angeles” brand, but also its eclectic facets of human cultural experience: its dining, fashion, art scene, recreation (including the most museums in any U.S. city) and, of course, film, music and theater. “All of this comes together,” Wooden explains, “to make us a bucket list destination for travelers from around the world.” Interestingly, he suggests that the city’s offerings appeal differently to first-time and returning visitors. New visitors should do the signature sightseeing, such as the Walk of Fame, Muscle Beach, and Downtown’s lively entertainment district, L.A. LIVE, as well as some of the best college and pro sports events – soon to include the return of the NFL’s Rams. For repeat visitors, he specifically recommends they explore the nuances of how Angelenos live, eat, shop and play. In fact, his team recently launched a new marketing campaign, called “Get Lost in L.A.,” that appeals specifically to millennials’ penchant for adventure, by highlighting all the “only-in-L.A.” experiences awaiting them. L.A. Tourism also maintains a strong marketing presence in international countries like China, which has 77 million outbound independent travelers. Wooden and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti want to roll out the red carpet to 50 million total visitors by 2020, a goal they set in 2013. “This is not a vanity number,” Wooden insists. “It underpins the importance of the tourism industry to the economic lift of Los Angeles.” For instance, 50 million visitors will bring $2 billion more (in today’s dollars) in new direct spend, and will support the creation of 25,000 additional jobs for area residents. Further substantiated by the 45.6 million visitors already achieved, “L.A. Tourism is constantly feeding to our city leaders research that shows that the vitality of tourism contributes to L.A.’s economic health,” Wooden asserts. This in turn justifies infrastructure investments to improve accessibility and the overall destination experience. In partnership with city officials, Los Angeles World Airports, Metro, and other local organizations, pending projects include major upgrades for Los Angeles International Airport, the Los Angeles Convention Center, transportation systems, and new hotel inventory.

Variety, Diversity and Accessibility: Los Angeles Keeps Getting Better and BetterBy Laurel Davis

Whether you have been to Los Angeles before or not, there is always something new to discover each time you visit. All across its 503 square miles, the City of Los Angeles offers visitors a wide and distinctive array of places to see, things to try, foods to eat, and stores to shop in, under a sun that shines nearly 300 days a year. City leaders want to make it even better. Over the next few pages, you will learn what some of them think makes Los Angeles a premier travel destination and what they are doing to enhance the tourism infrastructure to create greater accessibility to everything the city has to offer.

ERNESTWOODEN JR.President and CEOLos Angeles Tourism & Convention Board

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A Global City. A Second Home.Kelli Bernard leads Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s efforts to nurture business, create jobs and support high growth sectors of the Los Angeles economy, including tourism. That is why the very first thing she wants visitors to do is, “Get out of the car.” The Mayor’s over-arching mission with supporting tourism is to make Los Angeles a welcoming place and offer visitors a way to experience L.A.’s gems car-free. This points to one of Bernard’s areas of emphasis as Deputy Mayor of Economic Development. Specifically, an $8.5 million investment is earmarked for further, airport-wide modernization, with an additional $5.5 billion for a “people-mover” system between terminals and planned public transportation points. The latter calls for further investments to connect rail and local bus systems to every point in the city where inbound travelers want to visit. Bernard mentions the recent hires of Phillip Washington and Deborah Ale Flint, the CEOs of Metro and Los Angeles World Airports, respectively, as cementing the city’s commitment to giving visitors an all-around world class travel experience. She also extols Ernest Wooden of L.A. Tourism for leading the marketing pathway to draw in more visitors. Once visitors are ready to explore Los Angeles, Bernard recommends they spend time Downtown. “It offers something for everyone and is where Angelenos live, work and play.” Younger millennials will find Downtown particularly multifaceted and vibrant. This will be further enhanced with the proposed modernization of the Los Angeles Convention Center, with part of the goal being to provide 8,000 hotel rooms within walking distance. Bernard describes L.A. as a global city. “We are the eastern capital of the Pacific Rim, the northern capital of Latin America, and the western capital of the United States.” With such international diversity, every visitor will find something that reminds them of home. “In that sense,” Bernard concludes, “Los Angeles is a second home.”

Take Another First Look.Councilmember Curren D. Price, Jr. loves L.A. and it is not just because he is a native. Rather, it is the people, the variety of things to do, and the temperate weather, all of which combine to create a unique premier destination for global travelers. For instance, he recommends visitors should take in the city’s various different neighborhoods, such as Little Tokyo, Little Ethiopia, Little Bangladesh, or Little Armenia, Thai Town, Koreatown, Persian Square, and Leimert Park Village (or the “black Greenwich Village”). “Visitors will enjoy these self-contained neighborhoods – the people, their music, food, culture and customs – that truly reflect our rich cultural and racial diversity from around the world,” Price says. He also recommends exploring the city’s historical and creative arts sides as evidence of a longstanding and globally impactful heritage that has roots beyond Hollywood. Elected in 2013 and Chair of the Economic Development Committee, Price oversees the 9th Council District covering a portion of Downtown into South Los Angeles. Calling his district the “NEW 9th” due in part to redistricting in 2012 and mostly to convey “a new spirit of engagement, collaboration and getting things done,” Price is excited about the various new infrastructure projects across the city, particularly that impact his district. For one, the new Metro rail lines will further increase accessibility and convenience for all Angelenos and tourists. Also coming are a Major League Soccer stadium and new bike and pedestrian paths. Infrastructure projects also include a proposed $500 million renovation to the Los Angeles Convention Center, which is in the NEW 9th. About 280,000 square feet of additional space—including meeting rooms and grand ballroom, a 1,000-room onsite hotel, an outdoor pedestrian plaza, and more—are in the proposed designs to be added, along with modernized functional design elements and amenities. “We want to make the Convention Center a world-class venue that can host the largest events going,” Price insists. “The newly renovated center will encourage meeting and event professionals to take another first look at our city.”

KELLI BERNARD

CURREN PRICE JR.

Deputy Mayor of Economic DevelopmentLos Angeles Mayor’s Office

Councilmember Chair, Economic Development Committee 9th District Los Angeles City Council

Putting L.A. back into LAX“The airport is the front door to the city, and the awe of visiting L.A. must begin and end at LAX. We are putting ‘L.A.’ back into LAX.” Pivotal words from Deborah Flint, the chief executive officer of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the city department that owns and operates Los Angeles International and two other airports. “Airports are no longer just a place where air travelers merely transit from one destination to another. Airports must have a sense of place, because passengers spend more time in airports now and expect seamless integration of the full travel experience.” LAX served almost 75 million passengers in 2015. Flint, who took the helm of LAWA in June 2015, is tasked with transforming the airport into an iconic, best-in-class air travel gateway with a hospitality mindset that is conducive to promoting Los Angeles as a world-class destination. This mission is being accomplished through her management of some of the largest public works projects in the city’s history. It calls for, in part, a more than $13 billion investment to modernize terminals and facilities, innovate dining and retail, improve airport infrastructure, and center greater attention on customer service. Moreover, a key component to transforming the LAX experience for Angelenos and visitors alike is addressing traffic congestion. Flint says “the way forward” is the Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP), a transportation program that will provide guests with “a first-class, swift, convenient, and reliable way to access LAX.” The $5.5 billion dollar LAMP solution includes, among other major projects, an elevated, 2.25-mile-long Automated People Mover (APM), Intermodal Transportation Facilities for passenger pick-up/drop-off, a Consolidated Rent-A-Car Center, improvements to the Central Terminal Area roadways, and a connection to Metro’s county-wide public transportation system. Flint is confident LAX is poised to support the city’s goal to welcome 50 million visitors to Los Angeles by 2020. As she says, “We are on a new trajectory.”

Transportation RenaissanceNearly all there is to discover in Los Angeles can be reached by bus or rail, thanks to Metro. It is CEO Phillip Washington’s job to make public transportation an added part of the fun. “We’re striving to be the best, most flexible and most innovative transportation agency in the world,” says Washington, who leads a team of almost 10,000 employees. Metro already boasts a total of 450 million rides a year on more than 2,000 clean-air buses and six Metro rail lines, easily connecting guests to countless sightseeing, entertainment, shopping, dining, and indoor and outdoor recreational destinations throughout the city, the county and into surrounding counties. For instance, Disneyland in Anaheim, Orange County, is just as accessible as Universal Studios Hollywood, the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, or the Santa Monica Pier. With the city’s goal of 50 million visitors by 2020 in clear view, Washington says Metro is “working to transform transportation for our region – for today and the next 100 years.” While some of the agency’s development plans were already underway when he came onboard in May 2015, two new rail lines opened this year and three more lines are under construction. One of those will connect to a new people-mover being constructed at LAX Airport as part of the city’s efforts to enhance its tourism infrastructure. Washington joined Metro after serving in transportation management and leadership for the city of Denver for more than 10 years. Washington refers to all of his agency’s projects as a “transportation renaissance,” noting that the existing total rail of more than 100 miles has all been built within the last 25 years. Moreover, since Metro is a county agency that also oversees the modernization of highways and bike and pedestrian paths, Washington is making tourism in Los Angeles “even more convenient and exciting than it already is.”

DEBORAH FLINT

PHILLIP WASHINGTON

Chief Executive OfficerLos Angeles World Airports (LAWA)

Chief Executive OfficerLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)

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Los Angeles Identity“I came out here for a vacation more than 40 years ago, and I never left,” says Herb Wesson Jr. The Cleveland, Ohio native has been President of the Los Angeles City Council since 2012 and represents the 10th District, which covers Central and South L.A. Of note, he chairs the Rules, Election, Intergovernmental Relations & Neighborhoods Committee, the Ad Hoc 2024 Summer Olympics Committee and is a member of the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority. Wesson puts L.A. weather high on the list of what makes the city a premier destination. But mostly for him, it’s the nostalgia and the mystique of Hollywood. For people who do not live here, “when they’re watching TV or the movies, they know this is the place where their heroes walk, gather and have dinner.” In addition to L.A.’s well-known attractions such as Universal Studios Hollywood, Wesson suggests taking out of town guests to Venice Beach and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “It’s a perfect way to show visitors what it’s like to be in Los Angeles, just walking around people-watching at two of the most unique places in the city.” Wesson points out that attracting visitors requires maximizing convenience while they are here. Ultimately, a visitor should be able to step off the plane or outside their hotel and within minutes be at their next destination point without renting a car. To that end, the city is constantly improving, expanding and innovating upon the rail lines and bus routes to create an integrated network of connections between travel gateways, hotels and points of interest. The most important thing city leaders can do, Wesson says, “is trust and believe in Ernie Wooden and help make his job easier,” by supporting the tourism board president’s promotional efforts. Wesson is confident this is happening. “We’re doing well highlighting our city’s many treasures and helping to create this unique identity, which is Los Angeles.”

Immersive ExperiencesSince 1964, Universal Studios Hollywood has attracted movie lovers from all over the world who are fascinated with how movies are made and what it would be like to virtually engage in their favorite characters’ stories. Obviously, the theme park’s longevity speaks to its considerable role in drawing tourists from across the world to Los Angeles. Because Hollywood is so important to the global audience, the Comcast parent company is investing more than $1 billion into the NBCUniversal west coast headquarters, including Universal Studios Hollywood, according to Xiomara Wiley, executive vice president of marketing and sales. “We have put a lot of time and resources into our park to the point that 75 percent of it has been completely re-imagined.” “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™” is one crowning result; the immersive experience officially opened this past April and immediately garnered tremendous feedback for its multifaceted capturing of all things Hogsmeade. The investment has also gone towards other movie-based attractions and “immersive lands” whereby characters and settings are brought to life so guests feel they are experiencing them personally. All of the movie-specific immersive experiences are in addition to the park’s behind-the-scenes Studio Tour and the adjacent, visually dynamic CityWalk entertainment, shopping and dining complex at Universal City. As the executive in charge of marketing, Wiley is driving global attention to all that Universal Studios Hollywood has to offer, with the Harry Potter attraction being the primary focus currently. Given the immense, world-wide popularity of J.K. Rowling’s stories for the past 20 years, the new land will boost annual visitation significantly, which is already in the millions. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti attended the premiere in April for “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” Calling it a game-changer, he said in part, “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ at Universal Studios Hollywood is monumental in expanding our city’s global reach. It sends a message to visitors from across the world that L.A. is a place you and your family have to experience.”

HERB WESSON JR.

XIOMARA WILEY

Council President10th DistrictLos Angeles City Council

Executive Vice President, Marketing and SalesUniversal Studios HollywoodSM

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