No love for LA? Tourism drops, impacting the local economy

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00:00A new report shows tourism is down about 8% in California and it's impacting tourism hotspots

00:06like Hollywood Boulevard. I'd say down about 70 to 80%. 100%. 50%. Definitely drastic turn.

00:17Straight Arrow News spoke with vendors who say the numbers are way down and it's really having

00:21an effect. Yeah, it's a huge, huge impact. It's definitely a huge impact in our families and

00:28everything, you know. We have less people, we have less buses, like we're definitely down

00:33a lot. What's the cause for the big drop? People we spoke to listed several things and the president

00:40and current immigration policies came up often. Some of my friends are foreigners and it's a lot

00:45harder for them to get visas. It's not just a click check. This time I've seen more people

00:50worried about police and ICE around than the last time they came. I think most of it's probably

00:57politically political. And then, you know, I just, we haven't, maybe as a country, we

01:05haven't made it easy to be, to feel safe and actually be affordable too. Affordability is

01:15big too, you know. The cost of LA also came up with both vendors and visitors. An Indian

01:21couple we spoke with said this is the third time that they've been to visit their son who's

01:25in school here. Every time we come, we kind of just get groceries and then we stay in an

01:30apartment. But this time I think it was, uh, nearby 10 because, you know, when I paid up

01:35the dollars and what I bought was, um, yeah, it just was like a little shocking because

01:4120% of what we used to buy. Despite their concerns, people who made the trip are having

01:46a good time seeing the things people typically want to see while they're in La La Land.

01:51Everything that we see on TV and TV shows, everything is from here. So I believe that's the main point,

01:57just visiting the, where it all comes from. For me, this trip, the 101 Highway, it's something

02:05that is very popular in Vancouver. So I've been wanting to do that, like, for 10 years now.

02:10So I suggested her, she came into my ideas. LA is poised to get an influx of tourism in the next

02:17few years, as the city will host a World Cup game next year, the Super Bowl in 2027 and the Summer

02:23Olympics in 2028. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Keenan. If you want more on this story,

02:29download the Straight Arrow News app or visit san.com.