Deepening engagements with the Indian travel trade
From the onset of the pandemic, Los Angeles Tourism has been committed to ensuring its travel trade partners the most up-to-date information about travelling safely to the destination with the latest health guidelines. Seema Kadam, Regional Director – India, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, gives a brief about the destination situation and the programs they have adopted to engage with the India market to keep the destination on top-of-mind.
First and foremost, Seema says that the health and safety of the Los Angeles community is of paramount importance. Los Angeles Tourism has been taking a thoughtful and measured approach to the recovery of its tourism economy, actively monitoring the COVID-19 crisis for decreases in key indicators including daily case counts, hospitalisations and positivity rates. They are also leveraging quantitative and qualitative research and data such as economic forecasts from Tourism Economics, traveller sentiment and weekly lodging reports to guide their recovery strategy.
“We must acknowledge the efforts of our civic leaders who are working tirelessly to ensure that public health, reinvigorating the economy and job recovery all go handin-hand. Los Angeles Tourism and industry leaders continue to work closely with Public Health officials to ensure that we can safely and responsibly reopen our travel and tourism economy, including developing and implementing stringent safety protocols designed to protect both employees and guests,” opines Seema.
Los Angeles Tourism’s ‘Magic Hour’ campaign, was coupled with a live-streaming sunset from Venice Beach with extensive webinars and online trainings to expand their L.A. knowledge. They have also promoted inspirational content to Indian trade and consumers through targeted promotion on their social media channels including Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Seema further informs, “We continue to participate in virtual trade events from our partners Brand USA and Virtual Travel Mart by Travelgyaan to showcase L.A. and its offerings. Finally, we are actively working to relaunch our LA Insider online training module to help our trade partners discover and sell the destination like a true expert once international travel is ready to resume.”
She firmly believes travel is a resilient industry as people will always have a fundamental desire to explore the world around them to understand other cultures and traditions. “The travel industry will certainly adapt to a new world given the fact that the pandemic has permanently changed the way we travel. Health and safety will be at the forefront of every aspect of the traveller’s journey but we will undoubtedly see a boom for outdoor attractions and experiences such as hiking trails, national parks and beaches where there’s more room for social distancing without many constraints,” concludes Seema.