Hollywood remains one of the motivators to get Chinese tourists to visit Los Angeles. (Photo : Wikimedia)
Tourism industry insiders in Los Angeles are hopeful that more and more Chinese tourists will continue to visit the city in the next few years despite the recent economic factors working against their favor, such as the unpredictable Chinese stock market and the weakening of the yuan against the dollar, as reported by China Daily.
"That market is so deep that it will survive these challenges," said Ernest Wooden Jr., president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board.
"We believe the Chinese market is very elastic, and of course, very, very big--1.37 billion citizens. So our estimates are that demand for visiting Los Angeles will continue at least, as far as we can see, into the next couple of years," said Wooden.
Several of what motivates Chinese tourists to come to California are found in Los Angeles, including Hollywood and Universal Studios.
"We are very lucky to have the reputation of being a must-see destination to the Chinese market," said Lisa Pisaturo, director of international and domestic tourism sales with Universal Studios Hollywood. "Most of the Chinese tourists come mainly for the studio tour, to see the Hollywood aspect of moviemaking, and many of them also enjoy our shows and the rides."
Pisaturo said that the number of tourists during this year's Chinese New Year holiday did not go down much from last year. She added that the trend is on the side of continual growth in the Chinese market.
"We experienced double-digit growth over the last year, so that's an indication to us that it hasn't really affected the groups that are traveling," said Pisaturo. "The middle class and affluent Chinese families may spend less on shopping, but it sounds like, from everything we hear, that there are still big groups that will be traveling."
Pisaturo also talked about a new attraction that she expects will pull in even more Chinese tourists.
"We are opening the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood on April 7, and we believe it will be an additional attraction for Chinese families since so many children in China grew up with Harry Potter," said Pisaturo.
In 2015, 780,000 Chinese visited Los Angeles and spent over $1.1 billion. China surpassed Canada for the first time as the second largest source of tourists from abroad.
"Chinese visitors are spending more money than others, and they are staying longer," said Wooden. "They are one of our best visitors, and that's why we have such a focus on our marketing efforts in China."
