An Affordable Alternative in Los Angeles County

Travelers on a budget or families who don’t want to stay in or around downtown Los Angeles or the crowded beach areas can opt for Torrance.  Just 15 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and Long Beach Airport, Torrance offers a wide variety of hotel options from budget to deluxe, interesting attractions and activities, close to 500 restaurants, and easy access to Southern California’s most popular attractions.

Shop ‘Til You Drop

Torrance is home to the fifth largest shopping mall in the United States, the Del Amo Fashion Center.  At 2.5 million square feet it features approximately 314 retailers, an 18-screen AMC Movie Theater, and nine restaurants.

Family Fun In Torrance

Families traveling on a budget — or looking for a safe and easily accessible location — will love Torrance.  In addition to a wide variety of hotel accommodations — including many suite type properties that include fully-equipped kitchens — the city has its own 1.5 mile beach, the Southern California Live Steamers Miniature Railroad which offers free train rides on actual miniature live steam trains, an 18-screen movie theater at the Del Amo Fashion Center, and much more.  And families can just hop on the 110 or 405 freeways and head right over to Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Universal Studios, Hollywood, and more, all just a few miles away.

Eco-Tourism – Bird Watching/Wildlife/Nature Preserve

Torrance is home to the Madrona Marsh Preserve, a rare wetlands habitat — one of the last remaining vernal marshes (a depression flooded by runoff water from surrounding upland slopes) in Southern California — which features coastal stage community native plant areas, wildlife and bird watching, and a nature center with natural gardens classes.  The preserve is a valuable habitat for birds, insects, reptiles, and small mammals.  During winter and spring seasons, one can observe the ducks and coots on the water, red winged blackbirds in the tules, meadowlarks and shrikes in the uplands.  Finches and warblers in the willows are present during the fall and spring, while hawks in the eucalyptus trees come in fall and winter.  A variety of insects like dragonflies, butterflies, grasshoppers as well as Pacific tree frogs are present in the spring and summer seasons.  Some of the native plants found in the preserve are Dune Lupine, Bladderpod, Mock Heather, Beach Primrose, Deerweed, and Dune Wallflower.

Multi-Cultural Tourism

With Torrance home to the national headquarters of Honda and Toyota, the city has become a multi-cultural mecca with a wide variety of ethnic restaurants, a Japanese Garden at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, and more.  In addition, Torrance participates in the Sister Cities Program and was matched with the City of Kashiwa, in Japan, on February 20, 1973.  The Torrance Sister City Association is a non-profit, volunteer organization whose activities center upon the Japanese culture.  The Association sponsors a student exchange program each summer and the Bunka-Sai Cultural Festival each spring. 

Torrance Centennial

The Torrance Centennial celebration commences in November 2011 with events and activities every month culminating in October 2012. Events include a special Rose Parade float, Fun Run, and 10k, and outdoor events featuring music, crafts and food.  The city was built in 1912 and formally incorporated in May 1921.  Torrance was and named after real estate developer Jared Sidney Torrance who hired landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to design his new planned community.

Meetings and Groups

Savvy meeting planners know Torrance provides a safe, economical, and convenient location from which groups can see all things Southern California.  Torrance provides easy access by air — it is just 15 miles from Los Angeles International (LAX) and Long Beach Airport (LGB) — and is minutes away from beautiful beaches, Los Angeles Harbor, Disneyland Resort, Universal Studios, and other Southern California attractions.  Additionally the historic downtown area is consistently ranked as one of the safest communities in Los Angeles County.  Torrance prides itself on big city amenities with small town charm.  Meeting planners will find a total of 2,500 guest rooms and 51,000 square feet of total meeting space.

The City of Torrance Goes After More Tourism and Groups Business

In a bid to create greater awareness for itself as an affordable, safe, and attractive vacation and meeting and groups destination, a lodging group of 14 hotels (each with more than 50 rooms) has partnered with the City of Torrance and the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce to create Discover Torrance, the official visitors bureau for Torrance, CA.  Its Executive Director is Heather Johnston.