Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1459281
B M & T ••• March/April 2022 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 18 has to offer. Finally, in collaboration with the L.A. Convention Center, the City's Tourism Department and our local hotel and venue partners, we've worked hard to provide our customers with the flexibility they needed to rebook events for future dates without incurring additional costs. We're incredibly grateful that – as a result – we've been able to retain most of the groups that had to postpone their events. As your readers are probably aware, June 15th marked a welcome milestone for our city, as all sectors of L.A.'s tourism economy reopened with the appropriate health and safety measures. Since then, we've been thrilled to see just how much pent-up demand there was for the L.A. experience. In July, for example, Los Angeles County hotels ran over 70% occupancy for the month – the first time that's happened since the onset of the pandemic. In addition, we're excited to host multiple citywide conventions before year-end, and with the upcoming November lifting of international travel restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors, we can't wait to welcome our valued guests from around the world. All of this is possible because of our ongoing commitment to health and safety, which research continues to show is critical to our leisure guests, group customers and event planners. The Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) became one of the first facilities to receive the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) STAR facility accreditation on cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention. In addition, many people don't know that LACC is regularly used for tel- evision and film production, so our Center has been continuously in use for some time now. As you can imagine, the safe- ty protocols for the entertainment industry are quite comprehensive, so we're already well-versed in how to seamlessly deliver a first-class experience for meeting and event participants. Throughout the past year, we've continued to look for best-in-class partners with innovative solutions to give our guests peace of mind that we're being incredibly vigilant about their safety. In fact, Los Angeles Tourism became the first destination marketing and sales organization to utilize CLEAR Health Pass for professional meetings and events. CLEAR is already widely recognized as an industry leader in providing passengers with expedited, seamless security access at airports across the country through the use of biometrics. As a result, their Health Pass solution is incredibly secure, pri- oritizes confidentiality, and offers a cost-effective, turnkey solution that is flexible enough to meet the unique needs of every event. Similarly, Los Angeles was the first destination in the nation to partner with digital health company Sharecare and Forbes Travel Guide to independently verify the health security of participating hotels in Los Angeles. And our partners at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) have continued to develop and implement innovative solutions to improve the passenger experience, including a walk-up COVID-19 clinic that offers free vaccinations to all adults over age 18. The clinic is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday (closed Sundays), and there are three vac- cination locations: Outside LAX's Terminal 6 next to parking structure 6 and adjacent to the existing COVID-19 rapid test laboratory on the Lower/Arrivals level. Post-security inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal, departures level, in the Great Hall near the clock tower. This location is for ticketed passengers only. Pre-security inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal, arrivals Level 1, near the information booth. When it comes to holding meetings and events safely, in addition to the specific steps we've taken in L.A., we believe that California is the clear choice. As you're aware, our state was the last to reopen for group business, and while that was certainly challenging, it was absolutely the right decision to ensure that we could provide the safest possible guest experi- ence. In fact, California now has the lowest COVID-19 positivity rate of any state in the U.S. Beyond that, L.A. remains one of the most diverse, welcoming, and inclusive destinations in the world – with Angelenos from 140 countries speaking over 220 different languages. That diversity is our greatest strength, and it infuses our commu- nity with a vibrancy and creativity that informs every aspect of the L.A. experience – from our world-class culinary scene, to an incredibly rich and eclectic collection of arts & cultural institutions, to unparalleled sports & entertainment offerings, and so much more! Plus, there are so many exciting developments as the L.A. experience continues to evolve – even during the pandemic. In addition to a wealth of outdoor experiences and venues, and more than 300 days of sunshine, we were thrilled to cele- brate the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on September 30th. This incredible new institution gives guests a behind-the-scenes look at the magic, science, and artists of moviemaking in a spectacular setting. And SoFi Stadium was finally able to welcome Rams and Chargers fans in-person at the world's most state-of-the-art sports & entertainment complex, while Banc of California Stadium will become the home of the new Angel City Football Club – the much-antici- pated National Women's Soccer League expansion team founded by Natalie Portman and a "who's who" from the U.S. national team. We're also fortunate to have an extensive pipeline of new hotels opening in 2021 and beyond, which will allow us to add nearly 3,000 new rooms to our convention center package by the end of 2023 alone. And with their $14 billion moderniza- tion project on-schedule, LAX is poised to become one of the world's truly premier international airports. Especially after the past year, we can't wait for our leisure and group customers to start their own comeback story right here in Los Angeles!