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

Watch No love for LA? Tourism drops, impacting the local economy - Straight Arrow News on Dailymotion

Transcript

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.

00:16Straight Arrow News spoke with vendors who say the numbers are way down and it's really having

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

00:28everything. We have less people. We have less buses. We're definitely down a lot.

00:35What'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 quick 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

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

01:06to be, to feel safe and actually be affordable too. Affordability is big too, you know.

01:16The cost of L.A. also came up with both vendors and visitors. An Indian couple we spoke with

01:22said this is the third time that they've been to visit their son, who's in school here.

01:26Every time we come, we kind of just get groceries and then we stay in an apartment. But this time,

01:31I think it was nearby 10 because, you know, when I paid up the dollars and what I bought was,

01:38yeah, it just was like a little shocking because...

01:4120% of what we used to buy.

01:43Despite their concerns, people who made the trip are having a good time seeing the things people

01:48typically want to see while they're in La La Land. Everything that we see on TV and TV shows,

01:54everything is from here. So I believe that's the main point, just visiting where it all comes from.

02:01For me, this trip, the 101 Highway, it's something that is very popular in Vancouver. So I've been

02:08wanting to do that like for 10 years now. So I suggested her, she came to my ideas.

02:13LA is poised to get an influx of tourism in the next few years as the city will host a World Cup

02:19game next year, the Super Bowl in 2027 and the Summer Olympics in 2028. For Straight Arrow

02:25News, I'm Lauren Keenan. If you want more on this story, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit

02:31www.SAN.com.