Through a buzzing awards party, an Instagram contest and a celebrity surprise, Los Angeles Tourism highlighted the 50th anniversary of Los Angeles and Mexico City as sister cities and top travel destinations. At the Ex Convento de San Hipólito in Mexico City, Los Angeles Tourism, Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, the Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles, Dr. Carlos García de Alba and other personalities enjoyed a celebration in honor of Mexico.“We are here to celebrate the extraordinarily special 50th anniversary of the sisterhood relationship between Los Angeles and Mexico City,” said Patti MacJennett, Senior Vice President of Commercial Affairs at Los Angeles Tourism. “We have just announced a historic milestone for LA, that of welcoming 50 million visitors during 2018, achieving the record two years ahead of schedule and which we could not have achieved without the resounding success of our number one international market, Mexico. I am proud to share that, after a slight decrease in 2017, Mexico recovered with a significant gain to register its highest peak with 1.8 million visitors.”For the 50th anniversary of becoming sister cities, and to reinforce the message of “Everyone is welcome” in the most original way, a hologram of the Mexican singer and actor, Diego Boneta, appeared on-stage to delightfully surprise the crowd. In the highlight of the night, the life-size figure of the celebrity emerged to greet the crowd, and personally invite attendees to Los Angeles. “This is a night in which we celebrate one of my favorite cities in the world, my home away from home: Los Angeles. Thanks to the advances in technology I am physically in LA at this time. It is not so hard to believe you could also be here, because we are only 3 and a half hours away from Mexico!”As part of this amazing surprise and closing with a flourish, Diego announced the most important awards of the night: two trips to the city of Los Angeles, courtesy of Los Angeles Tourism. The first one was delivered during the event while the second, will be announced through Instagram account, becoming the first hologram to launch a contest in real time through that platform! Check out the behind the scenes on Diego’s Instagram.
It was a fitting event for two incredible cities – truly marking their campaign of “Everyone is welcome” with extra flair. Photos courtesy of Los Angeles Tourism.
