Riordan Touts Asian Trip as Boon to L.A. : Travel: Mayor--paying his own way--will lead city delegation to seven cities, promoting trade, tourism and investment in the Southland.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, discussing his upcoming overseas business trip, said Wednesday he expects the visit to seven Asian cities to yield high dividends by increasing trade, tourism and investment.

“Trade developments in Asia’s emerging markets represent great opportunities for economic growth in Los Angeles,” Riordan told a breakfast gathering of business and Asian leaders at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown headquarters.

“In addition, tourism is one of Southern California’s leading industries, providing more than 400,000 jobs and over $20 billion in economic activity annually,” Riordan said in announcing details of the 12-day trip, his first official journey abroad since taking office in mid-1993.

The Sept. 29-Oct. 12 tour of cities in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China is laden with meetings with business leaders, government officials and the media--anyone who can help boost tourists’ image of Los Angeles or encourage trade and investment, Riordan aides said. Destinations include Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Beijing. In addition, the mayor will pay official respects to Los Angeles’ three “sister cities” in the region: Nagoya, Japan; Pusan, South Korea, and Guangzhou, China.

Riordan consulted with his predecessor, Tom Bradley, in putting together the itinerary, and aides said the 20-year veteran of the mayor’s post provided valuable advice, especially concerning the importance of including the sister cities.

But the Riordan Administration seemed to take special care to avoid some of the criticisms Bradley engendered by his frequent city-paid foreign trade missions with large delegations of commissioners and other officials. And Riordan, elected on a promise to stamp out waste and make City Hall more cost-effective, also took pains to hold costs down, aides said.

The mayor, a multimillionaire businessman who takes a $1 annual salary as the city’s top elected official, said he is paying his own way on the Asian trip. A Riordan aide familiar with the trip preparations said the Administration sought bargains in accommodations and kept the delegation small to minimize costs. The estimated total tab to taxpayers is $250,000, Riordan told the Wednesday gathering.

The delegation consists of three to four officials of each of the city agencies most closely tied to trade and tourism, plus two top Riordan communications aides, Steve Sugarman and Noelia Rodriguez.

Commissioner Leland Wong, Executive Director Ezunial Burts and Marketing Director Al Fierstine will represent the Harbor Department. The Airports Department will send Dan Garcia, who is heading efforts to develop a master plan for Los Angeles International Airport, as well as Executive Director Jack Driscoll and Deputy Executive Director Phil Depoian.

The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau will be represented by Chairman Tom Tellefson, President George Kirkland, Asia Marketing Director Robert Amano and Associate Vice President Patti MacJennett. Any sister cities representatives who attend will make their own arrangements and will not use city funds, the mayor’s office said.

Riordan said the mission represents a “very reasonable marketing cost” that will reap “tens of millions of dollars” more in investment, trade and tourism for the economically struggling Los Angeles region.

Trade with Japan, China and South Korea totaled $36 billion for the Harbor Department last year, while LAX handled another $21 billion in Asian trade, Riordan said.