“We are concerned about any factors that could negatively impact perceptions of the U.S. as a preferred travel destination.”
Tourism promoters in Los Angeles and neighboring cities are grappling with the effects of several years’ worth of hits to the tourism industry in the region, SF Gate reported last month.
Visitor numbers, already sluggish to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, were dealt another blow in early 2025 when a series of wildfires ripped through communities near Malibu and Pasadena. While the neighborhoods involved were largely residential, leaving most tourism attractions and other tourist infrastructure untouched, visitor numbers have been down.
“With more than 510,000 Angelenos and over 1,000 local businesses relying on tourism for their livelihoods, we are concerned about any factors that could negatively impact perceptions of the U.S. as a preferred travel destination,” a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board told SF Gate.
Visit California, the state’s tourism board, was also quick to issue a statement following the fires, countering the perception that the fires had impacted the city’s attractiveness as a tourism destination. “Los Angeles has always been a beacon to the world–a place where dreams are born and stories unfold from the silver screen to iconic landmarks. Now this resilient city needs your help in its recovery story. One of the best ways to support the comeback of Los Angeles is to plan a trip.”
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The city of West Hollywood, which is administered separately from the city of Los Angeles, continues to maintain its post-fire information page, informing would-be visitors that the airports, hotels, and nearby attractions are all open, and the fires did not impact the city.
Still, hotels and other tourism businesses across the Greater Los Angeles Area are reporting drops in visitor numbers in the first half of 2025.
In addition to the fires, Los Angeles is impacted by a drop in international tourism driven largely by concerns that it would be more difficult to enter the country from abroad. Increasing reports that European tourists had faced weekslong detentions at border checkpoints over concerns about their tourist visas have dampened enthusiasm for foreign visitors to the U.S., a large source of inbound traffic for Southern California.
Canadians, in particular, are staying away, largely staying home due to an increased sense of nationalism following repeated remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump about his desire to annex the country, and because a weakened Canadian dollar makes traveling in the U.S. more expensive. Nearly 1.8 million Canadians visited California in 2024, and early results from 2025 show double-digit declines in visitor numbers. The city of Palm Springs, some two hours from Los Angeles, even unveiled banners proclaiming “Palm Springs (hearts) Canada” to show goodwill.
Canadian airlines have reduced flights to LAX through October in response to the drop in demand, and inbound tourism from Mexico is also down, chief executive John Ackerman of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), operator of Los Angeles International Airport, told the local NBC affiliate last month.
“The L.A. Tourism and Convention Bureau is anticipating year-over-year reductions in total international visitors to LA by between 25 and 30%,” said Ackerman.
That hits hard in a region where many long-popular tourist areas were facing an identity crisis, even before the fires. Entertainment haunts ranging from the Sunset Strip to Santa Monica were already dealing with fallout from the pandemic, inflation, and soaring rents.
Visitor numbers have also varied in several parts of the region. West Hollywood noted that after difficult hotel booking numbers in the first quarter that things were improving in April and May, and the city of Long Beach had actually eclipsed its pre-pandemic tourism revenues by early 2023, continuing that trend, thanks in part to a number of new business openings and the renovation of the Fairmont Breakers hotel.
Still, the news isn’t rosy, according to Visit California. Statewide, current forecasts anticipate a 9.2% drop in international visitors for the full year, with international spending projected to drop 4.2%. But the state’s tourism promoters also note that California’s 40 million residents can also contribute to tourism rebounds in their communities by exploring their own state this year.
