ECONOMY WATCH : Sell, Sell, Sell

For many in Southern California, 1991 and 1992 were years to forget. And so far 1993 doesn’t look great either. President Clinton’s plan may help the economy, but it will be a while in coming. What can we do to help ourselves?

Take more initiative, for starters.

Some people resist the idea of salesmanship--but the Beverly Hills Visitors Bureau shows that it can work. After a dreary 1991 retail holiday season, the bureau launched an unprecedented marketing offensive. A recent spate of imaginative promotions--from a glitzy Ferrari festival to a consumer-oriented three-day beauty, health and fitness symposium--has helped cash registers across the city to hum.

Teaming more closely than ever before--thinking imaginatively--city officials and local businesses are working every angle of the tourist dollar. Lately the city’s hotels report rising occupancy rates and many restaurants and other businesses note improvement. Increased sales mean profits, more jobs and higher tax revenues for city programs.

Not every city is like Beverly Hills, of course, but there is nothing Rodeo-Drive unique about what Mayor Robert Tanenbaum and the city’s business and civic leaders are doing. They have gone about the job of selling a city. Today’s fancy word for this is marketing, but behind it is old-fashioned hard work--organizing, designing promotions. This region has been so popular around the world for so long that it might seem unnecessary to “market” ourselves. No more. Even Beverly Hills now knows this.