West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (WHCC) and the City of West Hollywood hosted its annual State of The City (SOTC), on the evening of Thursday, June 11, 2015 at the Pacific Design Center’s Silver Screen Theatre. The event included a program with dynamic keynote speaker Ian Schrager, a reception catered by Wolfgang Puck and a tribute award ceremony, honoring Bill Hynes from Visit West Hollywood.
In collaboration with the City of West Hollywood, this year’s State of The City 2015: The Hotel Evolution presented byThe Witkoff Group and Latham & Watkins, was a booming success with over 250 people in attendance. The event focused on West Hollywood as a global destination and how the city’s hotels are setting the trends for the hospitality industry. Additionally the program showcased all the new hotel developments coming online in West Hollywood in the next several years. (See attached)
Mayer Rus, West Coast Editor of Architectural Digest, led an exciting program that captured the dynamic essence of design that Mr. Schrager provides to all of his projects. Mayer introduced the program by giving us an in-depth coverage of Mr. Schrager’s work and focused on many different projects, including iconic interiors for the Paramount and Royalton in New York and the Delano in Miami Beach Hotel. Mayer Rus, quoted “these hotels pioneered a style imitated endlessly around the world and cemented Mr. Schrager’s success as an hotelier.” The dynamic conversation communicated by Mr. Schrager showcased his passion for each project and his approach to each city it project resides in. One in particular that he spoke about with great enthusiasm was the Marriott’s Edition hotel brand with a flagship property on Sunset and Doheny slated for construction in West Hollywood.
City Manager Paul Arevalo spoke about new initiatives, economic trends, and innovations in the City of West Hollywood.Following the theme of hospitality and tourism for the program Paul captured the audience with astounding statistics provided by Visit West Hollywood. Paul stated, “West Hollywood attracted over 1.34 million visitors in 2014. Most visitors came for the day and the greatest economic impact came from hotel guests. Hotel guests stayed an average of 3.8 nights totaling over 2.5 million visitor days. Shopping was the key driver of tourism for West Hollywood with visitors spending over $250,000,000 for the year.”
The West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce honored, Bill Hynes, Vice President of Visit West Hollywood, with an award of recognition. Bill was a perfect fit for the evening’s program as his contributions to the City of West Hollywood over the last fourteen years were a significant driving force to tourism.
The West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is a 501c6 non-profit organization that supports and promotes a community environment where commerce can flourish. The Chamber fosters prosperity and champions local business by providing resources and leadership to advance activity through economic development, by advocating the position of the business community and by enhancing the quality of community life and promotes the uniqueness of West Hollywood.
