Experts Hope for a Quick Recovery for LA’s Tourism Economy

On a rainy afternoon in early February, Hodari Sababu, the cowboy-hat-donning owner of LA Hood Life Tours, isn’t running his usual assortment of van excursions to hip-hop and Hollywood landmarks. “People are scared to come to LA right now,” he says, seated at a booth on Hollywood Boulevard. He adds that his small business has lost $12,000 because of customer no-shows, cancellations and refunds since Jan. 7, when wildfires first broke out across Los Angeles, eventually burning through 40,000 acres and killing 29 people.

Normally, it would already be a slow month for Sababu, with low season running from January to March. That makes any additional hit to business difficult to absorb in the short term. But the tour operator is among a large number of local travel industry professionals who are predicting that this month’s anomalies will soon give way to a quick travel recovery citywide. Puffing a cigar and twirling a toy water gun, he says, “Come spring break, we hope to be busy again.”