Los Angeles Wants Its ‘Everyone is Welcome’ Campaign to Connect With Global Millennials
Los Angeles is part of a trend across major global cities as they attempt to distance themselves from less welcoming parts of their countries. Most cities can’t claim to be as diverse as Los Angeles, which helps its message appear honest yet measured.
Los Angeles’ tourism industry may be riding the coattails of the “two-hour advertisement for Los Angeles” that is the Academy Award-winning film “La La Land,” said Discover Los Angeles CMO Don Skeoch. But the city is also doubling down on its message that it’s a welcoming and inclusive place to visit to help combat negative perceptions of the United States from President Trump’s travel ban and the U.S. political climate.
This week, Discover Los Angeles, the city’s destination marketing organization, will launch its “Everyone is Welcome” multi-million dollar global marketing campaign that focuses on reaching primarily millennial travelers in five international markets — Mexico, Canada, China, Australia, and the UK — as the city projects weaker growth in international visitation during the next three years if President Trump’s current rhetoric and policies continue.
International arrivals in Los Angeles are still projected to climb through 2019 but that growth won’t be as steep if policies such as the six-country travel ban remain in effect and negative opinions of the U.S. grow (see charts below).
Discover Los Angeles expected to hit 7.4 to 7.5 million international visitors in 2017 before the November 2016 election. Skeoch said the organization, using Tourism Economics data, altered its projections recently and expects 2017 international visitor totals (seven million) to be virtually unchanged from 2016. Tourism Economics projects the city could potentially lose 830,000 international visitors during the next three years which breaks down to about 240,000 arrivals this year, nearly 300,000 next year and about 290,000 in 2019.
International travelers in Los Angeles, on average, spend $1,000 per trip. “That’s about $800 million of potential lost tourism dollars over three years, said Skeoch. “More specifically, that’s $35 million in tourism tax revenue lost. No one wants to see those funds dry up and it’s really critical for us to try to mitigate the situation.”