Los Angeles
I’ll meet you in… LA
AS THE USA’S WEST COAST HOTSPOT POSTS
RECORD EVENTS REVENUE, TOM HALL FINDS
THERE ARE AMBITIOUS PLANS TO REINVIGORATE
THE DESTINATION FOR CONVENTIONS
os Angeles, the USA’s
second most populated city,
coolly skirts a plethora of
scenes – whether it’s the
edgy cool of Downtown, the carefree
surfer chic of Venice Beach or the upper
echelons of Hollywood.
It’s no wonder then that in 2018 visitors
pumped an all-time high US$23.9bn into
the LA economy, generating a record
$36.6bn in total economic impact. Indeed,
tourism supported 534,258 jobs in LA
County’s Leisure & Hospitality sector, its
highest total on record, employing 1 in
every 8.5 workers in the county.
People clearly want to be in LA, but the
convention crowd weren’t always catered
for, until now. CMW sat down with Doane
Liu, Executive Director, City of Los
Angeles, who’s helping oversee a $1.2bn
expansion of the Los Angeles Convention
Center and the JW Marriott at L.A. Live
in Downtown Los Angeles.
The project is set for construction in
mid-July 2020 and billed for a late 2022
opening. “We have a lot of major events
coming up, with the 2028 Olympic and
Paralympic Games featuring five contests
here, and eight Paralympic events also
billed at the convention centre. This will
be the centre of the Downtown hub.”
Populous are the site’s architects, while
AEG are behind the build. According to
Liu, the marketplace was the impetus
Above: Pitchside at
Banc of California
Stadium
Conventions,
the LA way
behind the build. “Event planners are
telling us they need more continuous
space. Currently there’s a good 10% of the
convention market who we couldn’t even
talk to as they were too big for LA. This
plan allows new shows, as well as current
shows to expand. The Autoshow told us
‘whatever you can get us, we’ll take’.”
“Seventy percent occupancy is around
the max you can expect at a convention
centre, but we’ve been in the eighties for a
while,” says Liu. “The other limiting factor
for attracting conventions was having
hotel rooms within walking distance, but
we’ve doubled that since 2013, going from
2,500 to over 5,000 and we want to add
3,000 more – and they are either approved
or under construction.”
Liu points to a wall which displays
various new hotel projects. “Downtown
has many districts, but its South Park
that currently has the most construction,
and second to that is Hollywood which
has had a revitalisation with niche luxury
properties.”
Medical and technological conventions
are particularly sought after. “The ones we
couldn’t get were the giant super medical
shows, which went to Atlanta, Chicago
and Vegas. The tech space is interesting
too. We had Adobe here with 15,000
attendees who were ‘super users’. We’ve
seen nothing like it. The event congregates
talented creative types and Adobe gives
them Vampire Weekend and an open bar.
The city even allowed us to close the
street, creating a real ‘festival’ experience.”
LA Convention Centre is rare in that it
is able to stand on its own feet. “We
privatised the convention centre five
years ago,” Liu explains. “AEG were a
natural partner, and now it’s actually
profitable, with a surplus, which is
unheard of in the industry.
“The city, meanwhile, has spent billions
on a metro system, with voters agreeing for
more tax to fund $40bn in infrastructure
over next four decades, and 20 projects are
billed to be finished before the 2028
Games, including connecting the airport to
a transit system. We’ll see a huge
transformation over next five years.”
ISSUE 104
CMW DISCOVERS A CITY AT THE
FOREFRONT OF STYLISH AND
INNOVATIVE MEETINGS
Stadium of dreams
Banc of California Stadium offers
premium amenities and hospitality spaces
throughout the venue including a
chef-driven international food hall, event
rooftops, and speciality bars.
Meanwhile, The Sunset Club, a
one-of-kind venue that was created with
the pristine Los Angeles weather in
mind, boasts views of downtown LA,
Peristyle at USC Coliseum and the
Hollywood Sign. Elsewhere, a Directors
Lounge space adjacent to the Field Level
Club, is an enclosed space with luxury
finishes. bancofcaliforniastadium.com
Making meetings fun again
Two Bit Circus is a one of a kind venue
with MultiPlayer Midway & Arcade
games, Story Rooms and Immersive VR
attractions. This 3,530sqm building is
designed for people of all ages to play an
ever-changing variety of immersive
entertainment; including multi-person
virtual reality, narrative-based escape/
story rooms, indie arcades, molecular
mixology and lasers and robots.
twobitcircus.com
Meet and sleep
The Hoxton, LA (Fashion District,
Downtown) made its debut in late 2019.
The British brand takes over a 1925
building that was once HQ of the LA
Railway Authority. The 10-story hotel
features 174 guest rooms, three
restaurants, multiple bars and a rooftop
pool. For meetings, the hotel features four
rooms, all of which open up to a fully
stocked Pantry Kitchen that flips to a bar
at night. The Apartment space has room
for 120 revellers when you hire it out
exclusively. thehoxton.com/fr/
california/downtown-la/hotels
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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