Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (Los Angeles Tourism), the official destination marketing organization for the City of Los Angeles, today announced that its board of directors has appointed Adam Burke as President and CEO, removing his interim title. Burke will be responsible for ensuring the achievement of the organization’s mission, which is to leverage the economic power of tourism to improve the quality of life for all Angelenos.
A seasoned travel & tourism executive with more than 25 years of industry experience, Burke joined Los Angeles Tourism as Chief Operating Officer in 2016. He was named Interim President & CEO in April 2020 after Ernest Wooden Jr. announced his retirement, which became effective June 30, 2020.
“Adam has been instrumental in guiding Los Angeles Tourism during this unprecedented challenge for the local tourism economy and we have the utmost confidence in his expertise and abilities to lead our industry’s recovery journey,” said Alan Rothenberg, Board Chairman for Los Angeles Tourism. “His outstanding reputation, fresh perspective and passion for the destination will position L.A.’s tourism industry for success well into the future.”
“I am incredibly grateful to our board of directors for the privilege of serving Los Angeles Tourism in this new capacity. Ernie Wooden built a world-class team during his tenure, and I look forward to continuing to work alongside our innovative team of destination experts as we navigate these truly unique circumstances. Tourism is an absolutely vital part of the Los Angeles economy, and our collective priority is to safely welcome visitors while responsibly getting Angelenos across our leisure and hospitality community back to work,” said Burke.
Prior to Los Angeles Tourism, Burke served as Senior Vice President of Customer Loyalty for Hilton Worldwide with global management responsibility for the award-winning Honors customer loyalty program. At Hilton, he also oversaw a network of more than 90 strategic partnerships in the travel, financial services and retail sectors. During his 17-year tenure with Hilton, he held management positions in a variety of functional areas including strategic planning, international marketing, leisure & multi-brand marketing, sales integration, business development, CRM and enterprise technology.
Burke’s current industry affiliations include the U.S. Travel & Tourism Advisory Board, the Global Leadership Committee of Destinations International, the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission Advisory Board and the Simpleview Advisory Board. He also serves as a Board Member for L.A. Works – a 501(c)3 nonprofit, volunteer action center that creates and implements hands-on community service projects throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
Burke is a graduate of Colorado College with a degree in Political Science, as well as an alumnus of the Chicago Business Fellowship program from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Before the pandemic, tourism in Los Angeles achieved record growth for nine consecutive years, serving as a powerful economic engine. In 2019 alone, visitors directly spent $24.7 billion in Los Angeles, generating nearly $38 billion in total economic impact countywide. Most importantly, tourism supported 544,700 jobs in the County’s leisure & hospitality sector last year, equating to 1 in every 8.4 working Angelenos.
