LA travel plans in disarray as bushfires burn in further blow to US tourism recovery

Horrific Los Angeles bushfires have triggered a wave of cancellations from Australian holidaymakers, in a further blow to the city.

The Los Angeles bushfires are prompting Australian visitors to the US to rethink their travel plans in a further blow to the city in crisis.

Travel agents have reported numerous requests for itinerary changes and rebookings, with some would-be travellers opting to postpone trips or axe them ­altogether.

Andrew Sullivan from the Don’t Forget Travel Group said even those with travel booked outside of LA were seeking reassurance about the continuing threat from the wildfires.

“I’ve had people flying through LA on to other cities of the US expressing concern, but our advice is that LAX remains open and flights are relatively unaffected,” Mr Sullivan said.

Despite being within 30km of Pacific Palisades, where some 4000 properties have been lost to the bushfires, a statement from Los Angeles International Airport said it was “open and operating normally”.

“Passengers should check their flight status directly with their airline,” the airport said.

Delta, American Airlines and United were regularly updating information on their websites; Qantas said its flights into LA were continuing as scheduled.

With the emergency still unfolding in LA, a spokeswoman for Discover Los Angeles said it was too early to predict the impact on tourism in the city.

Since the Covid pandemic, Australians have been one of the slowest markets to fully recover in the US, with numbers still down by a third in October.

Mr Sullivan said the bushfires would only add to the uncertainty surrounding US travel, which had arisen from the perception the pandemic was not well handled, and the re-election of Donald Trump to the White House.

“I’ve had clients wanting to postpone travel to the US for six months to see how his presidency unfolds,” Mr Sullivan said.

“The exchange rate is also an issue. Australians seem much more sensitive to the exchange rate in the US than in Europe.”

Firefighters travel through destruction left by the bushfires that have engulfed whole neighbourhoods in Los Angeles. Picture: AFP

The impact of the fires on leisure travel was not being replicated in the corporate space, however, with Flight Centre revealing business bookings to LA in the first two weeks of January were up 60 per cent on the same time last year.

Flight Centre corporate travel general manager Renos Rologas said LAX remained oper­ational, and customers still needed to operate businesses.

“What’s occurring in California is truly devastating but travel into Los Angeles is continuing with no noticeable change in travel bookings or cancellations compared to what we would usually see,” Mr Rologas said.

“We’re advising customers to remain cautious and be aware; we’re in regular contact with those travelling in and out of LA as the situation evolves.”

Stage & Screen Travel, which handles bookings for the entertainment industry, expressed concern for the LA and Hollywood communities. The company’s Australian manager, Adam Moon, said his team was constantly preparing for disruptions for its customers in the sports, arts, and entertainment sectors. “Despite this being such a horrific time for the community, the entertainment industry is resilient; I’m confident we will band together to rebuild with time, to continue doing what we do best; entertaining,” he said.

Originally published as LA travel plans in disarray as bushfires burn in further blow to US tourism recovery