LA shows global influence through tourism data

The Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board (LA Tourism) released the latest data about LA's tourism industry at a press conference held at the "Palms LA Kitchen" in Zhangwang Hutong, Xicheng district of Beijing on March 26.

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Chang Hong, regional director of LA Tourism, releases the latest data about LA's tourism industry at a press conference on March 26. [Photo from sottoc.com]

LA's tourism has sustained a high growth in the last four years. In 2014, about 43 million visitors chose LA as their tourist destination, and the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) saw its passenger throughput totaling 70 million passengers, of which 6.5 million were from overseas countries.

Data showed that Chinese tourists contributed a lot to LA's tourism, with 700,000 Chinese visitors touring LA in 2014, a growth of 20.4 percent over 2013.

En Wude, director of the LA Tourism and Convention Board, said that LA has become a leading tourist destination across the globe and it is striving to attract 50 million passengers by 2020.

The 14 reasons why Chinese tourists love LA:

1. LA has high quality hotels. It saw a boom in its hotel industry in 2014, with hotel occupancy rate reaching 79 percent. It processed about 28 million room bookings in 2014, an increase of 3.2 percent over last year.

2. LAX is the largest entry from the United States to the Chinese mainland. There will be 49 flights from LA to China every week in June, with 15,400 seats per flight.

Flights go from LAX to China's airports every week:

There are 18 flights from LAX to Beijing Capital International Airport, 22 flights to Shanghai Pudong International Airport,？nine flights to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, and 28 flights to Hong Kong International Airport.

3. LAX is the only airport in the United States？where China Southern Airlines' A380 flight stops. Flight A380 has 502 seats and flies from LAX to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

4. There will be more than 60 direct flights from LA to China every week in July.

5. About 10 million passengers took round-trip flights between LAX and China in 2014, an increase of 125 percent compared to 2002.

6. The passenger throughput of round-trip flights between LAX and China in 2014 increased by 150 percent compared to 2010.

7. Of the direct flight routes between China and the United States, LAX ranks first in terms of passengers flying to China with a passenger flow of 1.09 million per year, while New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport ranks second with 823,509 passengers and San Francisco ranks third with 736,662 passengers annually.

8. Air China announced that the round trip route between Beijing and LA will have a frequency of three flights per day after May 2. Boeing 777-300ER will be running on the route, with a frequency of four flights per week. It will operate one flight per day since July 1.

9. Delta Air Lines will launch a round trip direct flight between Shanghai and LA since July 9. Running on the route will be the Boeing 777-200LR, which is equipped with 37 business class seats, 36 superior economy class seats and 218 standard economy class seats.

10. Starting from June 30, China Eastern will launch the Chengdu-Nanjing-LA route, Jiangsu province's first direct route to the American continent. With a frequency of three flights per week, the route will fly to LA on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and to Nanjing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

11. LA's entertainment capital,？Universal Studios Hollywood, provides tourists with？the best movie-going experience.

12. The Special Olympic Games will be held in 45 venues in LA, from July 25 to Aug 2, with more than 7,000 players from 177 countries taking part.

13. LA is the best place to attract oversea investment. Shanghai Greenland Group invested one billion dollars in the "Greenland Los Angeles" project, planning to build 38-storey residences and luxury hotels that are expected to be finished in 2016.

14. Discover LA Medical Care, a new initiative by nine partner institutions from China and LA to provide world-class health care alternatives, welcomes citizens of China seeking expert health care.

Nine partners, including the mayor of the city of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, formalized their agreement to increase collaboration and opportunities to provide quality health care to Chinese residents.

Attendees are listening to LA's tourism data at a press conference on March 26. [Photo from sottoc.com]

Lin Lin, a manager responsible for LA Tourism's public relations, shares LA's tourism resources with delegates at a press conference on March 26. [Photo from sottoc.com]

Zhang Chun, a specialist responsible for Delta Air Lines's marketing, shares with delegates Delta Air Lines's plan in July at a press conference on March 26.[Photo from sottoc.com]

Picture of the attendees at？the press conference on March 26 [Photo from sottoc.com]

Picture of LA Tourism delegates (L-R): Lin Lin, Liu Tiansi, Ren Gaoli, Chang Hong, Li Wan [Photo from sottoc.com]

Press conference is held at the "Palms LA Kitchen" in Zhangwang Hutong, Xicheng district of Beijing on March 26. [Photo from sottoc.com]