Los Angeles reached a historic milestone in 2018, welcoming 50 million visitors for the first time ever and accomplishing the destination’s ambitious tourism goal two years early.

The new record is 1.5 million visitors higher than 2017’s total – a 3.1 per cent increase – marking the eighth-consecutive year of tourism growth for Los Angeles.

City leaders and Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board president Ernest Wooden made the celebratory announcement using a hologram created by Los Angeles-based VNTANA, the leading provider of premium mixed reality experiences, at a special gathering of LA’s tourism and hospitality community.

“Los Angeles is a place where everyone is welcome, and tourism strengthens our diversity, grows our economy, and supports good-paying jobs for families across our city,” said mayor Eric Garcetti.

“Surpassing 50 million annual visitors two years ahead of schedule is the latest milestone in our ongoing work to bring Los Angeles to the world, and the world to Los Angeles.”

In surpassing 50 million total visitors, Los Angeles set new tourism records for domestic and international visitation, hosting an estimated 42.5 million domestic visitors (a three per cent increase) and 7.5 million international visitors (3.6 per cent increase).

The UK remains LA’s fifth overseas market with 382,000 visitors in 2018, an increase of three per cent.

This figure is recorded as an all-time high in inbound international travel, demonstrating the continued growth in demand for LA as a destination for both business and leisure travellers.

After a slight decrease in 2017, visitation from Mexico in 2018 scored its highest total ever with 1.8 million visitors, a four per cent increase.

China recorded an all-time high 1.2 million visitors, making Los Angeles the number one ranked US city for Chinese travellers (6.9 per cent increase, the largest net gain among all international markets).

Other international markets recording their highest visitation totals ever in 2018 include: Canada with 780,000 (4.5 per cent increase); UK with 382,000 (three per cent increase); Japan with 349,000 (2.5 per cent increase); Scandinavia with 190,000 (3.9 per cent increase); and India with 130,000 (5.1 per cent increase).