Update: ALIS events will open as planned on January 27

LOS ANGELES – Preparations continue to move forward for the ALIS, ALIS Law and ALIS DESIGN+ events scheduled to begin with ALIS Law on January 27.

With subdued winds aiding the containment of the wildfires in northern Los Angeles, the downtown area remains out of harm’s way of the fires and any fallout, according to Javier Cano, area general manager for Marriott International, who oversees the JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles at L.A. Live and is vice chair of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles.

BHN Group President Jeff Higley spoke again on Friday to Cano, who said his business is starting to stabilize a little bit more. “It helps the people that still have to work,” he said. “It’s important for our industry to really support the fact that we are here, and we want to help the communities, help those people to get their hours and be able to have their incomes.”

Cano added, “It’s good for people to know that we are hosting other events. We have a group that’s in right now … and we have another citywide convention next week. Those groups also made the decision that they felt it was right for their organization to be here to support Los Angeles. So, we’re very grateful they’ve done so.”

Cano said there about 36,000 hotel rooms in the city of Los Angeles. “There’s no doubt we are able to house the number of first responders within the hotel inventory in Los Angeles,” he said. “We appreciate the concern, we appreciate the thoughtfulness that people might have but we certainly have inventory significant enough to be able to really take care of everyone.”

Cano added that the downtown environment is mostly acting normally. “We have a lot of people, almost 100,000 people that live in the downtown area, doing all the things that take place on a daily basis.”

“We hope all those affected make it through the disaster safe and sound,” Higley said. “We thank all first responders, firefighters and law enforcement officials for their efforts in keeping the public safe.”

The ALIS team added that the JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton L.A. LIVE and Courtyard/Residence Inn Los Angeles L.A. LIVE are not directly in the path of the disaster, flights into the Los Angeles area have had minimal disruption, and local officials have expressed optimism that the fires will be contained soon.

The current ALIS schedule includes:

ALIS Law: Monday, January 27-Tuesday, January 28

ALIS: Tuesday, January 28-Thursday, January 30

ALIS DESIGN+: Thursday, January 30-Friday, January 31

At the same time, Visit California President and CEO Carolina Beteta published a statement on Friday that said her organization is actively working to ensure the world understands that Los Angeles is open for business.

Next week, Visit California Board Chair Dan Gordon will lead a delegation of CEOs from across the state on a CEO-level mission to Australia, a critical market for the state and Los Angeles, in particular.

Also, next week, Visit California will lead 50 delegates to the International Media Marketplace in New York, where they will have the opportunity to engage directly with hundreds of journalists and influencers.

Beteta said that on both trips and countless other upcoming engagements across the nation and around the world, California’s travel industry will share that Los Angeles is ready to welcome visitors, “and there’s no better way to help with the recovery than to plan a trip.”