LA sees 3% rise in GCC tourists
- 14 Nov 2019
Sajjad Ahmad, Gulf Today
The Middle East tourist inflow to Los Angeles is growing and we are expecting around 3 per cent growth in the near future, said Ernest Wooden Jr, President and CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.
Ernest was speaking to Gulf Today in Dubai during a Los Angeles tourism delegation visit to the UAE.
Top officials and stakeholders from Los Angeles were part of the delegation to discuss and explore potential opportunities with local tourism entities.
About the importance of the GCC market for the growth of Los Angeles tourism sector, he said, “the reason we are here in Dubai because we believe this is very important and luxury market for us. Last year we welcomed about 140000 travellers from this region to our state. Our forecast shows that we will be receiving around 3 per cent more visitors in next few years.”
He added,“ the GCC market is very vital for us because the tourists from this region are the big spenders in Los Angeles. We see a huge potential of growth and exploring new ways to maximize the number of visitors to Los Angeles.”
About the incentives and packages LA tourism offer to tourists, Francine Sheridan, Regional Director, Europe & Middle East, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board said,“ we are working with tour operators and airlines in the region. We combine our efforts with our partners and introducing every year various incentives and value-added services. We have very good partnerships with Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways to bring more tourists to LA.”
She added, “We work with the primary travel providers in east market in GCC, we will be doing some cooperative activities in each market very soon. LA tourism will join a brand USA Roadshow next year.” She concluded,” India is a very big market and we want to tap that market by opening LA Tourism state office in Mumbai very soon.”
