A Note from Javier Cano, Chairman, Los Angeles Tourism Marketing District

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"120177","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"280","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"233"}}]]Nearly three years ago, the LA hotel community supported the creation of the Los Angeles Tourism Market District (TMD) which has proven to be a game changer for tourism in LA!  It has provided LA Tourism & Convention Board, which is contracted by the LA TMD to implement its marketing and sales plan, with resources to market the second largest destination in America.  For the first time, L.A. Tourism was able to launch a full-scale integrated advertising and marketing campaign in TV, outdoor, digital and print to put Los Angeles on the mind of travelers across L.A.'s top domestic feeder markets. This year, L.A. Tourism will roll out a digital campaign in key international markets, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, and L.A. Tourism’s first ever China advertising initiative. The result? People are talking!Destination brand awareness, the hallmark metric for campaign results, has driven visitation to DiscoverLosAngeles.com like never before. Between July 2013 and July 2014, traffic to DiscoverLosAngeles.com surged past our FY14 goal of 6.5 million visits to more than 9 million visits. This Spring, L.A. was named the world's most powerful city brand by U.K-based The Guardian. Occupancy rates at L.A. hotels have been breaking record after record, and TMD hotels have seen hotel room nights sold increase by 223,000. We blew past our FY 2014 earned media goal of $36 million to reach an incredible $50 million of earned media that drives visitation to the benefit of TMD hotels. We have much more to accomplish, and we will continue to update you on a regular basis. Best Wishes,Javier CanoChair, Los Angeles Tourism Marketing District BoardVice President and Market General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles; The JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE