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# Selling of Santa Monica an international affair
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/selling-of-santa-monica-an-international-affair/
- Published: 2003-10-20T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:06:48.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*UK tradeshow a forum for marketing the city*

Local officials will fly to London next month to sell Santa Monica’s hotels and restaurants in the lucrative international market.

It’s the first time representatives from Santa Monica have gone abroad to a tradeshow, and they’re expecting the investment to pay off.

“People from the UK are traveling here consistently, even with the slow in the economy and the hassles traveling,” said Debbie Lee, communications director for the Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau, which runs on an annual $1.2 million budget funded by the local hotel bed tax.

Lee said the bureau is more aggressively targeting travelers from overseas because they tend to stay longer and see more of Santa Monica than people on vacation or business trips from other U.S. cities.

Though it’s unclear exactly how much money they pump into Santa Monica, visitors from the UK are the most prevalent in Santa Monica, according to data from LAX and polls conducted by the visitors bureau. The next largest markets are in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Japan and France.

Called the World Travel Market, the London-based tradeshow runs from Nov. 10 to Nov. 13\. Officials expect 18,000 exhibitors, more than 20,000 buyers and a strong press contingent to attend.

Denise Waggoner, a sales manager at the local bureau, will accompany representatives from the Hotel Carmel, the Lobster Restaurant and the Radisson Huntley Hotel. The idea is to generate leads from UK-based tour operators and travel agents, and then distribute them to local businesses.

There are 37 hotels and more than 350 restaurants in Santa Monica, Lee said.

“Because Santa Monica is only 8.3 square miles, we pitch Santa Monica as your base when you’re traveling to Los Angeles,” she said. “Stay here... we’re in the ideal location... and you can maneuver easily through the city.”

Also among the selling points, Lee said, is the pedestrian-oriented nature of downtown, the public transportation system, and the variety of restaurants, shops and hotels for the spendthrift and the wealthy alike.

Santa Monica will be competing alongside many bigger cities in the “California tent” at the London tradeshow. Lee said Santa Monica can compete with cities like San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim and LA because the city is sold as both a sophisticated urban destination and a beachside getaway.

“It’s really the lifestyle that we pitch,” she said. “We’re an urban city, yet we also have a natural feeling that makes us really unique... and, of course, the beach. Beach, beach, beach, beach.”

Ruth Elwell, owner of Ye Olde King’s Head Pub on Santa Monica Boulevard, said British tourists are far and away the biggest international visitors she sees. Because her restaurant and bar has earned a reputation abroad, she said the British tourists often stop there first, asking for information and advice.

The reasons they come to Santa Monica are simple, Elwell said.

“For Brits, it’s weather, weather, weather,” she said, adding that British people are comfortable vacationing in seaside cities with piers, like Brighton in the UK. “Even if it’s a foggy day, they’re in their shorts and they’re sitting on the patio because, to them, it’s an English summer day.”

> “Even if it’s a foggy day, they’re in their shorts and they’re sitting on the patio because, to them, it’s an English summer day.” — – RUTH ELWELL Owner, Ye Olde King’s Head Pub

But Elwell said the same vacationers who are drawn to Santa Monica for its weather, shopping and access to LA, are often turned off by the large homeless population downtown, especially by the excessive panhandling and when large homeless feedings take place in Palisades Park.

Lee said her group is prepared to deal with those concerns. Representatives have a list of talking points to assuage the concerns of any would-be visitors or travel agents considering buying from Santa Monica’s businesses in bulk.

“It’s come up before,” she said, adding that representatives will stress that Santa Monica is a small city with a big heart, and that officials are working towards improving the situation. The bottom line, Lee said, is safety concerns are an issue in any urban setting.

Mayor Richard Bloom agreed. He described Santa Monica as a unique city that will continue to attract visitors from all over the world.

“In my travels around the country and around the world I have frequently visited cities that have homeless populations,” he said. “I’m saddened to see that, but it doesn’t affect my desire to visit those places.

“I’ve often said in the past that, when I travel, I enjoy most places that are places I feel like I would be comfortable living in,” Bloom added. “And I think a lot of people find Santa Monica that way.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 20, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102003.pdf?ref=smdp.com)