Tourism Set Record in ‘84, Thanks to Olympics

Boosted by last summer’s Olympic Games, tourism in Los Angeles County jumped 9.5% in 1984 compared with the year before, according to a report on the impact of tourism on the county’s economy released Friday by the Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau.

And the visitors--a record 43.2 million of them--brought in the gold: $9 billion was spent on goods and services last year, translating into local tax revenues of $145 million and almost 400,000 tourism-related jobs.

The figures indicate that visitors weren’t scared off by the dire predictions of overloaded services and freeway gridlock that preceded the Summer Games, said Patricia G. Stump of the convention bureau. “But we knew early on that we’d have to focus (advertising promotions) on the ‘shoulder’ periods--before and after the Olympics--so we wouldn’t have a slump,” she said.

Olympics visitors tended to differ from the usual tourists, she said, because they spent all day going to different events and didn’t visit other tourist attractions around the Southland. “The Olympics were like a new attraction, and it superseded all the others,” she added.

For statistical purposes the bureau lumps tourists, conventioneers and business travelers into one group. Together, though, they account for one of Los Angeles County’s--and California’s--biggest industries. California, the No. 1 travel destination in the United States, took in $24 billion in travel receipts last year, 13.3% of the nationwide total of $211 billion. More than half a million jobs are tied to the state’s tourism industry.

The study also showed that:

- The “average visitor group” in Los Angeles County consisted of 2.3 people, who together spent $81 a day, or $5 more than the year before. Thirty-six percent of visitors used a travel agent, compared to 30% in 1983.

- The biggest spenders were conventioneers--more than a million of them attended 328 conventions, and each spent an average of $79 a day. Business travelers spent $73 per capita, compared to $66 in 1983.

- Sixty-one percent of tourists cited local amusement parks and other attractions as their reason for selecting Los Angeles as a destination; 12% named climate and 7% said they came to visit family and friends. Seven percent said they came to see Beverly Hills and 8% said they came to see Hollywood.

- More than a third of the visitors to Los Angeles County came from elsewhere in California and other Western states. Six percent of the visitors were from foreign countries, primarily Mexico and Canada.

- The median annual income for visitor households was $37,312, up from $32,400 in 1983.