Los Angeles breaks visitor record for seventh straight year

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board president, Ernest Wooden, have announced the city welcomed 48.3 million visitors in 2017, setting a new tourism milestone for the seventh consecutive year.

The record figure is one million visitors higher than 2016’s total, an increase of 2.2 per cent, driven by an all-time high 41.2 million domestic visitors.

International visitation overall grew 0.9 per cent to a record 7.1 million visitors, outperforming both its projected forecast and inbound travel to the United States as a whole in 2017.

A revised forecast in January 2017 estimated a four per cent decrease in year-over-year growth from the UK.

However, the UK outpaced this prediction with a two per cent year-over-year increase (370,000 visitors), but also visitation to the US overall.

This was supplemented by seat capacity from the UK to LAX increasing by eight per cent year-over-year, with the arrival of new, expanded and seasonal services from United Airlines, Norwegian Airlines, Thomas Cook, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. 

“We are powering Los Angeles’ economy to new heights every year, because we know that lasting prosperity means investing boldly in jobs, opportunity, and growth,” said Garcetti.

“The expansion of our travel and tourism sector tells the story of a city whose moment has arrived – and we will continue pushing forward as we expand our role on the world stage, and prepare to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028.”