L.A. Tourism Goes Big While Orlando Shrinks

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, January 25. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

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Episode Notes

Los Angeles is launching its largest-ever global advertising campaign to help remain competitive in the fight to attract tourists, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.

Habtemariam reports the city will unveil next week the latest iteration of its “Now Playing” campaign, which has showcased Los Angeles’ arts, food and lifestyle. The multi-million dollar campaign will target the UK, France and South Korea, among other markets. LA Tourism CEO Adam Burke said the city is increasing its international marketing efforts in response to the emergence of other competing destinations, including Saudi Arabia.

Next, Qantas’ new 10-minute long safety video has been largely panned by viewers who found it tedious among other complaints, writes Airlines Editor Gordon Smith.

The new video features Qantas crew and passengers sharing some of their favorite destinations. But with renewed focus on pre-flight briefings in recent weeks, some commenters on social media have argued Qantas’ film lacks critical information regarding safety. Smith notes the Qantas video doesn’t have any in-cabin visuals of the actual airplane. 

However, Qantas executives said the video travelers see pre-flight will be shorter than the online version. 

Finally, Visit Orlando, one of the U.S.’ largest tourism boards, is about to see its marketing budget reduced by $15 million, writes Global Tourism Reporter Habtemariam. 

The Orange County Board of Commissioners approved a proposal to move that amount of tax funds from destination marketing to other projects. Visit Orlando CEO Casandra Matej said she was relieved the organization didn’t see a larger reduction in funding. Its leaders had warned the county commissioner board that cuts could result in fewer advertising projects.

Visit Orlando will have an $85 million marketing budget for the 2025 fiscal year.