Visit California is in the midst of a week-long Australian trade visit with nine of its top tourism CEOs in attendance. The events also provided an opportunity to provide accurate updates on the recent fires in LA – and how visitation can help drive recovery.
President and CEO of Visit California, Caroline Beteta, was due to attend but remained on the ground in California to provide her leadership to the state.
Ryan Becker, Senior Vice President of Communications and Strategy at Visit California was the leading host at a Tuesday 21 January morning event which Karryon attended in Sydney onboard luxury vessel, The Jackson.
The team at Gate 7 had an extremely busy Tuesday – hosting no less than five events throughout the day – and heading to Melbourne on Wednesday for further sessions. In total, Visit California delegates will meet with nearly 100 Australian and New Zealand trade and media partners throughout the program.
Earlier in the morning, the delegates had attended a traditional Welcome to Country ceremony with Indigenous leader Aunty Margaret beside the Sydney Harbour Bridge, ahead of a strategy exchange breakfast between Visit California and Tourism Australia with Executive General Manager, Strategy & Research, Rob Dougan.
The visiting delegates are:
- Dan Gordon – Chair, Visit California / CEO, Gordon Biersch
- Ryan Becker – Senior Vice President of Communications & Strategy, Visit California
- Leona Reed –Vice President of Global Marketing, Visit California
- Stephanie DeVries – Chief of Staff, Visit California
- Noreen Martin – Visit California Board Member & Advisor, NLJM Investments
- Anna Marie Presutti – President and CEO, San Francisco Travel Association
- Claudia Vecchio – President and CEO, Sonoma County Tourism
- Gary Sherwin – President and CEO, Visit Newport Beach
- Julie Wagner – CEO, Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau
- Kathy Janega-Dykes – President and CEO, Visit Santa Barbara
- Mike Waterman – President and CEO, Visit Anaheim
- Tom Kiely – President and CEO, Visit West Hollywood
Onboard The Jackson, Vanessa Fletcher, Visit California Director and Gate 7 General Manager, introduced Ryan Becker who addressed the crowd and discussed the importance of Australian travellers in the region.
“We have a really keen interest in Australia, so we’ve made it a priority to be here. Australian travellers are among our top travellers in California. They contribute USD$1.5 billion to our economy that supports a total California tourism workforce of more than 1.2 million people,” said Becker.
“We’re not still restored yet at pre-pandemic levels, so we wanted to come here and make this a priority. Australian travellers are, in addition to being among our highest visitors, have strong loyalty. 77% of Australians coming to California are repeat visitors and we love to see that,” said Becker.
Projections for 2025 indicate further growth, says Visit California, with spending anticipated to reach 153 per cent of 2019 levels, equivalent to USD $1.9 billion. Sustaining growth remains critical for the state’s tourism economy, especially during times of recovery.
Update on the recent fires in LA
Becker also provided a “real-time” update on the situation regarding the recent LA fires.
“We’ve all been fed a steady diet of fires in Los Angeles, and while tragic of course, more than 98 per cent of Los Angeles is completely unscathed, including the entire tourism infrastructure and the tourism experience,” he said.
“Most travellers arriving into Los Angeles and traveling around the Los Angeles region will never see any impacts of the fires themselves. Firefighters have made great progress toward containing those fires and preventing further damage.
“The region’s sites and experiences that you all know and love – the Hollywood sign, Universal Studios, Hollywood, Santa Monica pier, Griffith Observatory and many, many more – remain intact and completely accessible to visitors,” said Becker.
The visiting CEOs also shared a message of support. Speaking to Gary Sherwin President & CEO of Newport Beach & Company, he said his first goal during this visit was “taking care of our friends in LA.”
“We are all in this together. I grew up in LA, and I used to work with the LA Tourism Board so I have a deep affinity for it. I understand, as your country did, that trying to educate people about the geography of a disaster is sometimes challenging and getting in front of people and physically explaining it is incredibly useful.
“We’re talking about a horrific incident that impacted a residential area, not usually a visitor area (except for a little part of Malibu). It’s horrible for those folks. We want to try to first explain what happened, because we don’t want to turn this from a natural disaster into an even bigger economic disaster.
“We were going to come here to Australia anyway but when the crisis happened, I said we need to go to Australia and talk to our friends, because they’re more sympathetic to the challenges of what happened than probably any other country,” said Sherwin.
Visit here for up-to-date information about visiting California, including local resources and how to help those affected by the recent wildfires.
What’s coming up for California?
Becker says that the state has a “plethora of new opportunities for travellers” who are coming to our state including reimagined lodgings, ground-breaking entertainment venues, anniversaries, sporting events and major events culminating with the Olympic Games being hosted in Los Angeles in 2028.
“In the accommodation space alone, we opened 88 new hotel properties last year, and another 628 are in the pipeline. That means 81,000 new rooms in the state coming online from the very near future,” said Becker.
Visit California views the Australian market as incredibly important and it’s the first time a Visit California CEO delegation of this size has visited Australia, so we see this as a key opportunity to foster relationships and form strategic partnerships that will drive increased visitation to California.
In Karryon’s sit-down with Visit California, Ryan Becker expanded on the reciprocal relationship between Australians and Californians.
“We see the world in very similar ways. Both our cultures are really fun-loving and like to have a good time and in California as well, we’re very hard working. We are blessed to live in a place that celebrates that experience. It’s not about collecting things, it’s about collecting experiences and making memories. I see that here in Australia too,” said Becker.
The program continues in Melbourne today and tomorrow with Australian-born, California-based celebrity chef Curtis Stone bringing a slice of his new Beverly Hills culinary concept, The Pie Room, to Melbourne’s Fed Square for an exclusive pop-up event where attendees can enjoy a pie free of charge or choose to make a small donation to the American Red Cross or World Central Kitchen.
Donations from the Pie Room will go to support those impacted by the fires.
