LOS ANGELES TO HOST ‘WATERSHED’ MOMENT AS U.S. TRAVEL’S IPW CONVENTION RETURNS  

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (May 2, 2024) — For the first time in 12
years, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board is proud to welcome the
U.S. Travel Association’s IPW [2]—the largest inbound travel trade
show—to Los Angeles, from May 3-7.  The Los Angeles Convention Center
will serve as the main backdrop for IPW with key events being held
throughout the city, including the Getty Center, the Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park and Universal Studios Hollywood.
The announcement comes as Los Angeles Tourism, in collaboration with
Tourism Economics, announces its 2023 year-end tourism performance, with
49.1 million total visitors—97 percent recovered to 2019, our
benchmark year—including 43.3 million domestic visitors (100 percent
recovered to 2019 levels) and 5.8 million international visitors (nearly
79 percent recovered to 2019), $40.4 billion in total business sales
(106.9 percent of 2019 levels), and more than 530,000 tourism-related
careers for Angelenos. Hotel demand grew to 30.2 million total
room nights sold last year with hotel occupancy rising to 71.7 percent
and average daily hotel rates reaching $198.  In 2023, visitation to Los
Angeles reduced the tax burden on Los Angeles residents by generating
$3.2 billion in state and local tax dollars to fund essential City
services, and as a result, each Los Angeles County household saved $965
in annual state and local taxes.

“Tourism continues to be an indispensable economic engine for Los
Angeles, impacting the livelihoods of more than 530,000 tourism-related
careers for Angelenos,” said Adam Burke, President & CEO, of Los Angeles
Tourism. “LA is one of the world’s most exciting, inclusive and
ever-evolving destinations, and we are privileged to host IPW this year,
a watershed moment for Los Angeles’ tourism industry. With sustained
global interest in the City of Angels, and with more demand generators
now than ever before, we are confident that LA will see the benefits of
IPW for years to come.”  

At IPW, the international travel marketplace comes to the US under one
roof with the goal of increasing international inbound travel. This
year’s show attendance will exceed 2019 levels for the first time
since the pandemic and is expected to generate more than $5.5 billion in
future travel to the United States. Throughout the show nearly 100,000
prescheduled business appointments will take place, connecting 1,700+
global travel buyers and press with 5,700 travel professionals
representing nearly 70 countries.  

Visitors to LA hail from the United States (43.3 million visitors) as
well as from key international markets including the following Top 10 in
2023: Mexico (1.71 million visitors); Canada (780,000); China (400,000);
the United Kingdom (310,000); South Korea (269,000) and Australia
(266,000); France (264,000); Japan (230,000); Germany (190,000); and
India (110,000).  

“With its incredible diversity and global accessibility, Los Angeles
is a perfect city to host U.S. Travel’s IPW and the thousands of
travel professionals who are building back international travel to the
United States,” said Geoff Freeman, President and CEO of the U.S.
Travel Association. “It’s been more than a decade since this
signature event has convened in LA, and it will lead to years of new
visitation and benefits for the city, the state of California, and the
country overall.”

Los Angeles Tourism continues to focus on international tourism
recovery. While domestic visitation has led the destination’s tourism
comeback, overseas visitation continues to see a more staggered
recovery, with another 24 months expected until every source market
reaches full pre-pandemic levels. LA Tourism maintains a year-round
presence in 15 global markets across four continents, including seven of
its own LA Tourism overseas offices in the United Kingdom, Australia,
China (four locations) and India.

During IPW, Los Angeles will host several events, including the Media
Brunch on Saturday, May 4, at The Getty, in partnership with PST ART:
Art & Science Collide; Opening Night at the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum, also on Saturday, May 4; and the Closing Event at Universal
Studios Hollywood on Tuesday, May 7. The Los Angeles Convention Center
will serve as the backdrop of the tradeshow itself, with Visit
California provides programming at California Plaza.

As air service recovers in key source markets, LA Tourism continues to
promote LA globally with its ‘Now Playing’ global advertising
campaign, which released its most current and largest investment ever in
February 2024. The unprecedented eight-figure investment targets
visitors from the U.S., Australia/New Zealand, Canada, France, Mexico,
South Korea and the United Kingdom. Since the campaign’s initial
launch, ‘Now Playing’ has generated more than $2 billion in
incremental direct spending in Los Angeles.   The ‘Now Playing’
campaign is expanding this month to reach drive and short-haul markets
such as San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Fresno, Santa Barbara,
Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and within Los Angeles to drive hotel
room demand by leveraging major events throughout Los Angeles County.  

“Los Angeles and all of California will be the center of attention for
the global tourism community in the coming days, showcasing the
abundance of experiences in the Golden State and the unparalleled
resilience of the travel and hospitality community,” said Caroline
Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California. “California is the
ultimate playground for travelers from across the world, and offers
every visitor an opportunity to play in a way that speaks to them.”

Los Angeles Tourism continues to elevate the City’s new products and
developments, promoting all of What’s New under the banner of LA 2.0.
There is no shortage of demand generators including the ongoing  $30
billion modernization of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); new
stadiums such as the Intuit Dome opening this Fall; a vibrant culinary
scene including more Michelin-rated restaurants than ever before;
exceptional arts and cultural enhancements and openings including the
debut of South LA’s Destination Crenshaw, the opening of NHM
Commons—the new wing of The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
County, nearing completion of the construction of the David Geffen
Galleries at LACMA. Additionally, Los Angeles will host PST ART: Art &
Science Collide, a landmark regional event that is an initiative of
Getty with arts institutions across Southern California that explores
the intersection of art and science, both past and present, coming
September 2024 to February 2025, with 818+ artists and 60 exhibitions;
and Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour’s 60th milestone
anniversary, with a dedicated experiential program from April 26 to
August 11, 2024, the City has no shortage of new demand generators.    

LA Tourism Meetings and Conventions welcomed 21 citywide conventions to
the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2023, drawing more than 390,000
attendees and generating nearly 182,000 room nights for LA-area hotels.
In 2023, meetings and events generated nearly $422 million in total
spending.  

To learn more and discover Los Angeles and its many diverse regions,
visit www.discoverlosangeles.com.

To view LA Tourism’s 2023 Community Benefits Fact Sheet, please click
here [3].

To learn more about U.S. Travel’s IPW, visit www.ipw.com [4].

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ABOUT LOS ANGELES & LOS ANGELES TOURISM
Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (Los Angeles Tourism) is the
non-profit destination marketing and sales organization for the Los
Angeles tourism industry and the ultimate resource for where to stay and
play in the LA area.  

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