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.
Read MoreAPRIL 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.”
Read MoreAPRIL 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.
Read MoreAPRIL 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.
Read MoreAPRIL 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.
Read MoreAPRIL 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.
Read MoreAPRIL 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.
Read MoreAPRIL 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.
Read MoreAPRIL 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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.
Read MoreMARCH 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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