Adam Burke, President & CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, spoke to CMW’s Iain Stirling recently at IMEX America 2025 about how major sporting events, infrastructure investment, and a game-changing convention centre project will reshape LA’s business events landscape
Iain Stirling: I’m quite keen to get an update of everything that’s going on in LA. What does hosting the World Cup and the Olympic Games mean for the city, and what kind of development are we seeing off the back of that?
Adam Burke: I think, first of all, it’s impossible to overstate what it will do to Los Angeles to have this unprecedented slate of major events. We’re very fortunate. Our partners at the LA Sports and Entertainment Commission have done a remarkable job of securing so many world-class events.
People are very focused on the FIFA World Cup. We had the honour of hosting eight matches, including the opening match for the US Men’s National Team at SoFi Stadium. That will be an incredible showcase, because SoFi is one of the world’s most state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complexes.
Beyond that, in 2026, we’re also hosting the NBA All-Star Game at the brand new Intuit Dome, and we’re hosting the US Women’s Open for golf at Riviera Country Club. So that’s three major events in 2026 alone. In 2027, Super Bowl LXI will be the second time we’ve hosted an NFL Super Bowl in five years.
Then in 2028, LA will become the first US city to host the Olympic Games three times. The estimate is that between the World Cup, Super Bowl, and Olympics, we are going to see well over a billion dollars of economic impact and visitation.
But to me, what’s more important is it really creates a global showcase for Los Angeles. The beauty of a World Cup or an Olympic and Paralympic Games is you have people who choose to come to Los Angeles not because it’s Los Angeles, but because it’s the World Cup or the Olympics.
You have people – whether they be event planners, travel trade, or leisure travellers – who are getting exposure to Los Angeles either for the first time in many years, or maybe the first time ever. It’s really the legacy that they’ll have over the next 10 to 20 years that I think is the most paramount consideration.
IS: What is your total hotel room stock in LA at the moment?
AB: Right now, roughly 110,000 rooms, and we’ve added over 9,600 new hotel rooms in the last five years at virtually every price point. When you look at things like the strength of the dollar and the impact of tariffs, affordability is a huge consideration for people.
If you’re a family travelling on a budget looking for a limited-service brand, you’ve got terrific new product across every region. If you’re someone who’s really looking for bespoke luxury, we’ve got that too, and everything in between.
IS: What improvements are happening at LAX?
AB: Infrastructure isn’t particularly sexy to talk about, but it’s critically important from a visitor perspective. In the run-up to the World Cup, Super Bowl, and Olympics, LAX has materially completed phase one of their multi-billion dollar modernisation.
The West Gates at the Tom Bradley Terminal features 15 new state-of-the-art gates, biometrically enabled. What I really love is they’ve pulled through the LA experience. Rather than seeing national retailers or food products, you’ll see Border Grill, which is a staple started by Susan Feniger, who sits on our board of directors.
You’ll see Fred Segal for apparel, so you get a really local experience. They also have a curated art programme featuring local LA artists throughout Tom Bradley Terminal.
The most exciting thing is we now have the LAX Metro Connector – you can now take Metro directly from LAX to downtown Los Angeles in 30 minutes. Very much like the Heathrow Express.
IS: When is that due to be ready?
AB: The automated people mover is scheduled to open in 2026, just before the World Cup. It’s called SkyLink – the tram that will seamlessly get people between the terminals, but also to the off-airport consolidated rental car centre and parking.
It has over 500 EV charging stations, and all of the taxis, Ubers, and Lyfts will also pick up off-airport. What that means is the congestion in the horseshoe at LAX will be reduced by 45%. That will be transformational and really make it one of the world’s premier aviation facilities.
IS: You seem to have plenty of direct flights from Europe. Does that make it easier for people to attend international conferences?
AB: We do – and not just Europe. In the last 36 months, you’ve seen new air service from Norse, Condor, French Bee. If you look at the Pacific Rim, you’ve got Starlux out of Taiwan, Zipair, Air Premia.
At least eight carriers who’ve brought new direct service. That connectivity is absolutely vital for international meeting planners considering Los Angeles.
IS: Going back to the convention centre – this is obviously crucial for the business events sector. Can you explain what the expansion is? How big is the expansion? When is it opening?
AB: LA has always been a premier destination for meetings and events. It’s a massive driver of our local economy, and what I love about it is the diversity of our offering. No matter what a planner can dream up, we know we can deliver against it.
The one inhibitor has been the size of our centre. For those who know the Los Angeles Convention Centre, we have the West Hall and the South Hall, and they’re not conjoined. As a result, we can’t pursue anything currently that requires more than 350,000 square feet of contiguous meeting space.
The most telling number: 90% of the top 250 citywide conventions in the US meet in just 20 destinations. Without the expansion, LA is not in the top 20.
With the expansion, we will be connecting the West and South Halls to create 750,000 square feet of contiguous meeting space. That will immediately propel LA into the top 10 destinations in the country by size.
Populous is the architect – they’ve done a brilliant job of really envisioning a forward-thinking design. We also have what’s being referred to as the Halo, which is very appropriate for the City of Angels. It’s on top of the building, and it is a 98,000 square foot multi-function space that has no pillars.
Imagine you could have everything from a two-acre ballroom all the way to being divided up into 30 different size configurations for flexible meeting space.
What I love about it is they’re really grounding it as an LA-facing facility. So much natural light being pulled in throughout, and views to the LA skyline. Our view is, if you’re going to be in a centre, you don’t want it to feel like it could be anywhere. You really want to have a sense of place.
The early projections are that it will generate over $150 million in new business sales annually. Beyond that, it’s what it does for our community.
Right now, there are 49,000 Angelenos whose careers depend on the events that take place at the convention centre. This will add 15,000 new permanent jobs – nearly a third increase in permanent employment.
Over the 30 years of the project, it’s estimated that the city will see over $659 million in new contributions to the general fund that funds essential services – fire department, public safety, recreation. It’s truly a legacy, transformational moment for LA and for the meetings and events industry.
IS: Based on the back of these major sporting events, will convention and meeting planners be looking at LA differently?
AB: We’ve seen a lot of that. Los Angeles has 12 professional sports teams, and multiple teams in multiple sports. We actually have three soccer teams – Angel City Football Club in the National Women’s Soccer League, the LA Galaxy, who’ve won more MLS titles than any other team, and LAFC.
For sports enthusiasts, that’s absolutely a consideration in selecting a destination for their events, because we’re finding planners and attendees are booking pre and post and they want to take advantage of year-round sports.
IS: What are your key sectors within LA? What kind of business events do you tend to attract?
AB: It’s actually fairly broad. LA always has to be red carpet ready because of the perpetual cycle of everything from award season – with the Academy Awards, the Grammys – to Fashion Week, and how many designers have started unveiling their lines in LA, to major gallery openings and museum events.
We’re also welcoming the grand opening of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art – the legacy project of George Lucas and Melody Hobson devoted to the art of visual storytelling. It’ll be the first museum of its kind in the world.
Then you get the traditional verticals you would expect in the business events sector. A lot in the entertainment vertical, a
