Words From Wooden - March 2013

Greetings, as I enter my second month on the job as the new President & CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.  As a former hotel executive for my entire career-to-date, I am now thrilled and honored to associate with all of you in this great industry from the destination management perspective.

As you will see in the metrics contained within this newsletter, the year is off to a good start in January with hotel occupancy, ADR and RevPar all posting year-over-year gains. To help ensure a continued strong pace, we launched our domestic television and online advertising campaign in mid-February and a concentrated digital effort in the U.K, Australia and Canada. Both campaigns are designed to inspire travelers to choose LA for their spring and early summer trips and you’ll find more details on the campaigns within this newsletter.

Now, of course, there is much in the news about the sequestration impacts on travel, and specifically, airport service.  We are monitoring the situation and staying in close contact with Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and the US Travel Association to support their efforts to minimize impacts on the travel experience.

Certainly, this is an exciting time for LA as we enjoy a rapidly evolving landscape with plans for new hotels, attractions, amenities and services.  And, with this momentum behind us, I have ambitious goals for continuing to grow our global leisure and meetings and conventions visitation.   Ambition is no stranger to LA as it is the foundation of our “City of Dreams”  -  whether as the mecca that embraces determined dreamers or as the place where aspirational dreams come true.  Personally, I’m ambitious about meeting and interacting with many of you over the coming weeks and months at various shows and events in Los Angeles and abroad.  I’m very much looking forward to seeing what we can create together.  In the meantime, my door is always open if I can ever be a resource for you.

With best wishes for your success this year,

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Ernest Wooden Jr.
President and CEO
Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board