LOS ANGELES _ For the seventh straight year, Los Angeles County has set a record for drawing big-spending tourists.
The county hosted 48.3 million visitors in 2017, a 2.2 percent increase over the record 47.3 million tourists in 2016, according to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who announced the fresh record during a recent news conference at Los Angeles International Airport.
The visitor increase was fueled by a 6.3 percent surge in travelers from South Korea, a 6 percent jump in tourists from China, and a 5.5 percent improvement in visitors from Canada, the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board reported.
Garcetti and Ernest Wooden, chief executive of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, attributed the increase in visitors to a campaign launched last year called Everyone is Welcome.
The campaign was meant to be a response to President Donald Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric and his travel bans, which some industry leaders say is scaring off international visitors.
In contrast to L.A.'s visitor increase, overall international visitation to the U.S. dropped 4 percent in the first six months of 2017, according to the latest data from the National Travel and Tourism Office.
The U.S. Travel Association, a trade group for the country's travel industry, said it plans to respond to the drop by forming a coalition with other U.S. industries, called Visit US, to send a message that the country welcomes international visitors.
