Interview with Mr. Ernest Wooden Jr., President and CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board

— The Best Time to Visit Los Angeles

As the member city of WTCF, Los Angeles always positively participates in the activities held by WTCF. In 2016, visitor numbers traveling to Los Angeles amounted to 47,300,000, which broke the record consecutively for the sixth time. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is also the host city of the 2017 World Tourism Cities Federation Los Angeles Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit. In order to explore the secrets to success of Los Angeles’ constant and steady growth in the tourism industry, World Tourism Cities magazine interviewed Mr. Ernest Wooden Jr., President and CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.

Q: The number of visitors traveling to Los Angeles in 2016 is 47.3 million, an increase of 3.8% from the previous year. The total U.S. domestic visitation reached 40.2 million, a 3.8% increase over 2015; and international visitors reached 7.1 million, a 3.5% increase over the previous year. What do you think is the method of steady increase of the Los Angeles tourism industry? What is the reason that constantly draws international visitors traveling to Los Angeles?

A: “I am grateful to say that Los Angeles is having a moment. 2016 was our sixth consecutive year of record breaking tourism as we welcomed more than 47.3 million visitors. Global desire for the Los Angeles experience is at an all-time high, a fact largely attributable to our city’s celebration of diversity and creativity, from which thriving culinary, cultural and lifestyle scenes have emerged. Fantastic new hotels are opening their doors with frequency, chefs are exploring innovative creative territories, noteworthy cultural institutions are choosing to call L.A. home and people want to be a part of the L.A. lifestyle. As the premier gateway to the region, LAX International Airport offers unmatched lift for international visitors with convenient flights and the most economical airfares than any other major U.S. city. There’s never been a better time to discover Los Angeles and we invite travelers from all over the world to immerse themselves in our celebrated only-in-L.A. attractions.”

Q: According to the latest data, Los Angeles welcomed even more Chinese tourists in 2016, with more than 1 million visitors coming from China. This figure has ranked top among the main overseas tourist source markets of Los Angeles. The number of Chinese visitors reached by a year-over-year growth of nearly 22%, —the seventh consecutive year of at least 20% visitation growth. China alone accounted for 75% of the destination’s overall international growth, and Los Angeles became the first ever city destination to welcome more than 1 million visitors from China. So, what do you think is the reason that has contributed to such an increase? As the President & CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, could you please share the measures you and your colleagues took in doing this job?

A: “Los Angeles recognized the vast potential of the inbound Chinese tourism market early on as we were the first municipal tourism marketing organization in the U.S. to open a full-time office in China (Beijing) in 2006. We’ve since expanded our footprint with two additional offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Our accelerated marketing efforts in China have produced remarkable results: In less than a decade, China has surged to become Los Angeles’ number one overseas tourist market —from not even ranking in our top 10 international markets 10 years ago. In fact, Chinese visitation to Los Angeles has grown by double-digits annually for the last seven years, a growth that has outpaced every other international market. We are also pleased to see Los Angeles become the preeminent gateway to connect China and the United States with nearly 70 weekly nonstop flights from China’s five major cities to LAX.

“We have seen increases in FIT, millennial travel, group business and events as well as special-interest tours like gourmet tours. We are all grateful for the ten-year visa extension between our two countries, making the travel process much more convenient. In order to attract more Chinese visitors, L.A. Tourism shifted our strategic efforts to a B2B+C business model, after solely focusing on B2B marketing in China early on. We have cooperated with major OTAs to focus on online bookings and mobile bookings, which right now are very popular in China.”

“L.A. Tourism has also established strong partnerships with Chinese broadcast platforms to create tourism-inspired digital content such as Youku’s ‘Travel with Food and Wine.’ And, we frequently work with our airline partners to host travel journalists and trade partners for familiarization trips to drive awareness, appreciation and demand for all that Los Angeles offers the Chinese visitor by creating first-hand experiences for these influential groups. We are continuously being advised by our Chinese marketing staff to understand the nuances of the culture and the behaviors of the travel experience for the Chinese visitor, which is always evolving. We’re also in the third year of our “Nihao China” program which helps prepare our L.A. tourism and hospitality businesses with best practices to welcome Chinese visitors so we can ensure they have the best possible experience in L.A., and keep coming back. We value the Chinese visitor enormously and will further develop programs with our hospitality partners so that Chinese visitors enjoy the very best travel experiences in L.A. including our world-class attractions, endless entertainment, and premier shopping.”

Q: 2016 was the “China - U.S. Tourism Year”. Do you think this really boosted the tourism industry of Los Angeles? Which aspects have benefited from this event? Which measures is Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board going to take in further expanding the Chinese tourism market?

A: “Absolutely. Last year (2016) was an important year for L.A. Tourism as it marked the ten-year anniversary of our Beijing office, our first in China, in addition to the official ‘U.S.-China Year of Tourism.’ We celebrated these two significant milestones with several events in-market, strengthened relationships with our travel trade and airline partners and continued to promote Los Angeles with a new marketing campaign. As we usher in a new decade of cooperation between China and the U.S., we are working diligently to increase airlift from the region’s secondary cities, in addition to the direct air service currently offered from China’s five major cities. We’ll continue to invest considerable marketing resources in China including the expansion of our footprint. Chengdu will become our fourth L.A. Tourism office when it opens by the end of June 2017.

Q: At the 2016 World Tourism Cities Federation Chongqing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit, Los Angeles applied for and has successfully become the hosting city of the 2017 Summit. How do Los Angeles and the American Tourism Market think about the hosting of this summit? What do you think of the summit?

A: "As a founding member of the Federation, I am honored to have witnessed the development and growth of the WTCF in the last five years. We are honored that WTCF selected Los Angeles as the host of the WTCF Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit in 2017 and look forward to welcoming all the representatives with open arms to promote opportunities for tourism cooperation and discuss important tourism development issues. This Summit is unlike any other in the world as it brings together leaders together from the world’s most famous tourism cities and tourism-related institutions and is a true symbol of the great work that can be achieved through collaboration and cooperation.”

Q: You have proposed to reach the target of attracting 50 million visitors by 2020. Could you please tell us how Los Angeles plans to achieve this target and describe the future of the Los Angeles tourism industry in three years?

A: “We are firmly positioned towards reaching our goal of 50 million visitors by 2020, but it’s imperative there be progress with new and updated tourism infrastructure and hotel development to showcase Los Angeles as a desirable destination to our visitors and accommodate the future growth in visitation. The on-going multibillion dollar modernization of LAX will elevate our airport to an even more powerful position to compete for more new and expanded international air routes, which is crucial to reaching our goal. As a destination that is always evolving, the future of the Los Angeles tourism industry is bright and we will continue to roll out the red carpet for visitors from all corners of the globe.”