APRIL 16, 2025

California is suing President Trump over tariffs—Gov. Newsom’s most direct challenge to the president since he retook office in January. The move comes after Newsom spent months appealing to the president for federal disaster relief. The lawsuit targets the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, which the president is using to impose tariffs without congressional approval.

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APRIL 15, 2025

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a tourism campaign urging Canadians to “come experience our California Love” after seeing a dip in visitation by Canadians. In a video posted to social media, Newsom focuses on the allure of the Golden State while distancing it from Trump’s administration, noting that California is “over 2,000 miles from Washington and a world away in mindset.”

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APRIL 14, 2025

Hilton’s Annual Trends Report found that recreating memories is one of the most common reasons Americans choose leisure travel, with 58% of travelers saying they want to revisit childhood destinations. This nostalgic travel trend—or “time tripping”—is about revisiting simpler times, reconnecting with the places and experiences that shaped them, and sharing those experiences with new generations.

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APRIL 9, 2025

The 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles will feature 28 more medal events than Paris 2024. The additions are part of a broader push by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to modernize the games and attract new audiences. The final program was shaped by guiding principles set in 2023, which emphasized global appeal, cost-efficiency, athlete focus, and gender balance.

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APRIL 8, 2025

Asm. Matt Haney and Sen. Scott Wiener are bringing back a measure to allow some restaurants and bars to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and state holidays. Supporters of the proposal say it would revitalize post-pandemic nightlife across California cities and draw more visitors and revenue, especially as the state prepares to host the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.

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APRIL 8, 2025

The stock market is continuing to fluctuate wildly. Drawing parallels with the 1929 Wall Street crash and the ensuing 1930s Great Depression, the president’s “liberation day” tariff plan has led to warnings of a global recession from leading economists. As market volatility continues to feed fears, it’s hard to resist comparing what’s happening now with market crises of the past.

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APRIL 7, 2025

Because California receives a disproportionate amount of income tax revenue from capital gains earned by the wealthiest taxpayers, the tumbling stock market could take a significant bite out of the state budget next year. The state is also worried about how the tariffs could weaken California’s large manufacturing and agriculture sectors, as well as tourism and major ports. Finance officials are modeling different scenarios, some of which would require spending cuts.

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APRIL 7, 2025

California tourism could lose billions of dollars because of federal policies on tariffs, immigration, and gender identity, as well as talks of annexing Canada. A broad travel slowdown could hurt different industries that fall under the tourism umbrella, including hospitality and restaurants—and the roughly 3 million Californians who work in them. A significant decline in visitation could also lead to airlines pulling routes from the state’s airports.

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APRIL 6, 2025

The Trump administration has issued an order demanding that all national parks remain open amid severe staffing shortages—an action that raised concerns as park personnel brace for millions of visitors this summer. The order comes after President Trump slashed about 1,000 National Park Service workers this year, with many hundreds more taking buyouts.

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APRIL 4, 2025

According to Google Trends, “no-passport vacations” are going to be the most popular way to travel this summer. Whether it’s due to the economy or the state of air travel, more and more people will be choosing to travel closer to home this year. Recent survey results from Club Wyndham and Talker also found that nearly twice as many people prefer to drive to vacation destinations (40%) than fly (26%), and 60% believe they have not seen enough of the cities or attractions throughout the United States.

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APRIL 2, 2025

While California started the year with a dry spell, February and March brought more fresh snow to the Sierra Nevada, pushing the state's snowpack to 96% of average on April 1, when the snow season typically reaches its peak. The near-average snowpack has given the state a third straight year of ample water supplies in the mountains—something that hasn't happened in a quarter of a century.

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MARCH 26, 2025

The Los Angeles wildfires put a spotlight on several issues hoteliers are up against, including the rising cost of labor amid a high-inflation environment. Hotel owners also worry about the rising cost of insurance, which is climbing as natural disasters like wildfires become more prevalent. Lodging associations are now calling on City Council to suspend city-level tenancy requirements, the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance, and the Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance.

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MARCH 25, 2025

After President Trump said he would impose tariffs on Canada, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau encouraged Canadians to change their vacation plans to focus on exploring destinations within the country—and it worked. A boycott by Canadians—the top international visitor—threatens to upend local economies across the U.S. Canadians made about 20.2 million visits to the U.S. in 2024.

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MARCH 24, 2025

On Monday, CalFire released its final round of color-coded hazard maps, which show how much of the state is prone to wildfires—and how much the danger zone has grown since the last round of hazard maps were released over a decade ago. While the maps have been in the works for years, their release coincides with renewed public anxiety over wildfire risk, the state’s fragile home insurance market, and the management of development in places most prone to burning.

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MARCH 22, 2025

Millions of visitors are drawn to California each year to experience its picturesque landscapes and pristine shoreline. The threats are alarming environmentalists, who consider protecting the shoreline a fundamental part of California’s culture.

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MARCH 21, 2025

Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Finland are among a growing number of countries warning their citizens about potential problems they could face if they travel to the U.S. The advisory updates appear to highlight recent federal policy changes that have made it harder to cross the border and revoked policies that benefit people who are transgender.

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MARCH 20, 2025

When it comes to the future of travel, experiences are taking center stage and driving destination selection. This evolution of travel planning has created new intersections between live events and destination choices.

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MARCH 20, 2025

The Athletics’ temporary stay in Sacramento has the potential to bring almost a million additional visitors to the region on a seasonal basis. The team's stay provides an opportunity to showcase the region on the national stage of Major League Baseball.

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MARCH 19, 2025

Last week, Tesla received permission from state regulators to begin a charter service that will use Tesla-employed drivers to ferry its employees in company-owned vehicles for prearranged rides. Deploying driverless taxis to the public is a long regulatory road.

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MARCH 13, 2025

Many of California’s restaurants require a reservation for dinner, and for the state’s harder-to-get tables, black market reservation websites have only made things more difficult—and more expensive—for diners. In December, New York became the first state to ban third-party websites from profiting off gamifying reservation platforms. California

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MARCH 11, 2025

Visit California has released drafts of its Regional Strategic Tourism Plans, which are now open for comment through March 31. The grant does not provide funding or staff for any implementation work, but the plans identify resources available at the state and regional levels that organizations can leverage.

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MARCH 10, 2025

According to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadian-resident return trips by car from the U.S. has plunged 23% from a year ago in February, marking the second straight month with a year-over-year decline and the first annual drops since March 2021. The U.S. is the most popular destination for international trips among Canadians.

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MARCH 6, 2025

President Trump has signed an executive order to establish a White House task force for the World Cup, which will be held across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in July 2026.  The executive order comes after U.S. Travel issued a report detailing the need for major reforms prior to the mega events set to be hosted in the United States, such as the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.

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MARCH 6, 2025

The Trump administration’s tariff and immigration policies create uncertainty about California’s economy that’s “very much elevated,” according to a new UCLA Anderson forecast. Immigration policy could also have big effects on California’s economy—one being the loss of undocumented workers from the labor force. According to the forecast’s author, “Deportations and reductions in federal support for health care will disproportionately affect health care and social services, retail, and leisure and hospitality.”

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MARCH 5, 2025

Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for the state’s forests, allowing his administration to bypass more coastal and permitting regulations and expedite wildfire prevention projects as California recovers from the Los Angeles wildfires. The suspension of CEQA and the Coastal Act also reflects a shared belief among some California Democrats and Republicans that environmental laws are exacerbating the state housing crisis by hindering development.

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MARCH 3, 2025

One year into California’s landmark effort to regulate conditions for more than a half-million fast food workers, the state council appointed to oversee the industry has barely settled on how to conduct meetings. Council Chair Nick Hardeman said the pace so far is to be expected, likening the work to starting a new department from scratch.

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FEBRUARY 25, 2025

A rollout of $17 million for parks and open space will add 623 acres of green space to 13 neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles County. Some of the money will go to restoring burned out preserves that are now a barren, blackened landscape where trees, flowers, and wildlife once thrived.

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FEBRUARY 23, 2025

On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new digital democracy initiative that will attempt to connect residents directly with government officials in times of disaster and allow them to express their concerns about matters affecting their day-to-day lives. Engaged California was designed to be more accessible for residents than traditional avenues for influencing government, such as testifying before city councils, writing letters, or emailing legislators.

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FEBRUARY 21, 2025

According to Booking.com’s 2025 Travel Predictions, more travelers are seeking out the feeling of awe from the night sky, with 60% of travelers saying they're considering visiting a low-light pollution destination. Many dark sky destinations focus on reducing light pollution and infrastructure to reset the area back to its natural nighttime state.

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FEBRUARY 21, 2025

Governor Gavin Newsom is asking Congress to approve an additional $39.7 billion in aid to help Los Angeles recover from the damage of last month’s firestorm, warning that it could become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Newsom’s funding request includes $16.8 billion to rebuild property and infrastructure, $9.9 billion for grants to fire victims, $5.29 billion for homeowner and business loans, $4.32 billion in recovery grants for local governments, and $2 billion in low-income housing tax credits.

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