Los Angeles welcomed a record 42.2 million visitors in 2013; a two per cent increase over 2012's 41.4 million. This beat mid-year projections by 150,000 visitors and broke visitation records for the third consecutive year.
Travelers from within the US to LA accounted for a high of 36 million in 2013, and domestic overnight visitation achieved its highest historical level with 22.3 million overnight visitors. This constitutes 490,000 new domestic overnight visitors and a growth of 2.2 per cent.
While the total international visitation, at a record of 6.2 million visitors, does not compete with the domestic visitor numbers, it does represent a higher overall growth rate – travelers to LA from overseas grew by 2.6 percent in 2012 compared to the 1.9 per cent growth rate on the domestic front.
China was the biggest driver of overseas visitation with a year-over-year growth of more than 21 per cent which solidified its position as the city's No. 1 overseas market. Los Angeles Tourism recently opened a second office in China (offices are now in Beijing and Shanghai) to continue its marketing efforts to attract this large and growing market.
Hotel occupancy and hotel room nights sold both set all-time record highs as well. Hotel occupancy for the year reached 76.8 per cent, surpassing the previous 2012 record of 75.8 per cent. LA County's hotels sold a record 27.2 million room nights in 2013, an increase of 2.1 per cent percent over 2012.
