Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (L.A. Tourism) recently launched ‘L.A. Insider,’ a new online training tool for travel trade professionals. The mobile and tablet-friendly programme is the first of its kind for L.A. Tourism. It has been designed to help travel trade across the globe – including India – better sell the city and stay up-to-date with its latest offerings by means of international market-specific modules.
Demand for a bespoke online portal of information and selling tools for the travel trade is strong and growing, as global demand to visit Los Angeles continues its rapid upward trajectory. 48.3 million tourists visited L.A. in 2017, a figure that is expected to reach 50 million by 2020. The city continues to gain preference among Indian travelers as well. 2017 saw 1.2 lakh Indians travelling to Los Angeles. India is an important and rapidly growing market for L.A. Tourism and Indian traveller trends and demands have inspired added efforts to tap the market potential.
“We’re proud to launch such an advanced training programme, one that will help our clients discover L.A. like an insider and sell L.A. like an expert,” said Ashlee Ciora, senior director, Tourism. It can be difficult to stay on top of all the new developments – L.A. Insider aims to provide the travel trade with a one-stop-shop platform for everything they need.
L.A. Insider, developed by TravPRO which also launched Visit California’s STAR programme, will provide easy access to L.A. Tourism’s marketing assets, sales collateral such as factsheets, maps, videos and even neighborhood tours in virtual reality. The programme also provides information on the gateway to the West Coast, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and updates on the airport’s multi-billion dollar modernisation programme with multimedia assets added as they become available.
Participants who complete the L.A. Insider training will receive a certificate, access to discounts and specials from L.A. members, the opportunity to participate in FAMs and be entered to win a trip to one of L.A.’s award shows.
“We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support we receive from our industry partners,” said Ernest Wooden Jr., president and CEO of L.A. Tourism. “The launch of L.A. Insider speaks to our commitment to travel trade professionals by providing them with helpful tools they can use on a daily basis as well as recognition for their expertise.”
Localised modules of L.A. Insider will be launched for English-speaking international markets throughout March 2018 and L.A. Insider will be rolled out in Spanish, French, German, Korean and Japanese over the coming months with more languages to follow. The market specific modules will feature videos of expats describing what it is they love about Los Angeles and tips to make the most of a visit. L.A. Tourism successfully launched a China- specific online training program, L.A. Angels Academy, in October 2015, with over 5,600 registered users and 1.45 million page views.