Bangkok--11 Oct--eTurboNews
Los Angeles, California has become the first city in the world to be permitted to open a tourism office in China. The city's mayor opened the Beijing office on Monday in a ceremony attended by Chinese officials and a delegation of Los Angeles business and elected leaders.
LA INC., recognized as the official organization responsible for marketing Los Angeles tourism, yesterday said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the president of LA INC., Mark Liberman, formally opened the first city-level tourism office licensed to operate in China.
LA INC. said Mayor Villaraigosa and Mark Liberman met with the management of the China National Tourism Administration in cooperation with Chinese Consul General, Zhong Jian Hua, Chinese carriers and government officials Over the course of the past year. "They secured for Los Angeles the first of what is likely to be a growing number of tourism offices representing US cities eager to position themselves to compete for the world's largest international travel market," the city's official marketing agency said in a release.
"The tourism industry is critical to the economic health of Los Angeles - employing hundreds of thousands of Angelenos and pumping billions into our local economy," said Mayor Villaraigosa. "With the opening of the new tourism office in Beijing, Los Angeles is putting down a permanent welcome mat for the tens of millions of Chinese tourists who will visit our great city in the coming years. More tourism means more jobs and a healthier economy."
LA INC. disclosed that China is currently the fastest growing international visitor market to LA. According to the marketing agency, tourism analysts predict inbound travel from China to the US will expand by 46 percent between 2005 and 2008. "It is estimated that 176 million residents of China have the financial means to travel and it is expected that this number will increase by 50 million within the next five years."
The potential for Chinese travelers to specifically target Los Angeles as their primary destination is promising, added LA INC. "As home to the second largest Chinese-American community in the United States, Los Angeles can expect to receive a significant number of visiting friends and relatives. In 2005, LA welcomed 83,000 Chinese visitors. With 19 weekly nonstop flights from China to Los Angeles, 360,000 passengers will have the ability to visit LA annually."
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