Southland looks pretty appealing to visiting travel industry professionals.

DOWNTOWN L.A. - Los Angeles has taken a licking in recent years but at least in terms of tourism, it keeps right on ticking, according to travel industry professionals from around the world who were here last week for a major trade event.

Overall, a random sampling of the delegates found Los Angeles rates a grade of B or B-plus as a tourism destination.

A couple of the delegates gave the greater Los Angeles area a grade of A. Of the 10 delegates sampled, the lowest grade was a C, which a tour operator from Canada gave the area. Most of the delegates gave Los Angeles County a B.

Many of the queried delegates had something like this to say: "In many ways it's different than what I'd expected," said Ben Langner of World Travel Agency Ltd., in Johannesburg, South Africa. "I'm actually pleasantly surprised."

Of course, the delegates to the Discover America International Pow Wow at the Los Angeles Convention Center received first class treatment while they were here. But the clear message from those queried was they liked what they saw and plan to heavily promote the destination to their clients.

The point of the Pow Wow was to sell travel to the United States. Domestic suppliers like hotels, tour wholesalers, convention bureaus, airlines and theme parks met with tour operators and travel agents from foreign countries who send clients to the U.S. Organizers of the annual event estimated $3 billion worth of future travel business was transacted.

Hard sell

Cities throughout the country lobby hard to host the event because it gives the local tourism industry a chance to show off the destination to people who sell travel. About $300 million in future Los Angeles County tourism business was finalized, said the primary organizer, Washington, D.C.-based Travel Industry Association of America.

Between 5,500 and 6,000 people attended the trade event.

The delegates sampled for their opinions said the primary reason for their enthusiasm about the region was its diversity of things to do.

Kim Palmer, sales manager for GoGo Tours in Scotch Plains, N.J., gave the area an A. "There is so much to do here: The theme parks, the beaches, Hollywood, the movie star stuff, the mountains. It's a terrific destination and people want to come here. Now that I've been here again I'll be better able to sell it."

On the down side, some of the sampled delegates said transportation and the smog are potential problems in terms of promoting the destination.

"It's very spread out and that's a problem. If you don't have a car, how can you get to some of these places? You know a lot of older people don't have cars, or just don't like to drive in big, strange cities," said Karen Whelan, a representative of Standard Tours in Montreal, Canada. She was the delegate who gave the area a C and said she might be hesitant to recommend the area to older people.

Some concerns

Cathy Gogue, a marketing officer for the Guam Visitors Bureau in Tumon, Guam, gave the area a B grade. She raved about the shopping and restaurants, and the general "excitement" of the area, but had qualms about the smog and crime.

"A lot of people in Guam want to come here because it's an exciting place to go. People want to be able to say they're going to L.A. But in Guam we're very concerned about the environment and people don't like air pollution, so that's a problem with some people in coming here. Then there is crime. People are afraid of the crime," she said.

Most of the delegates questioned mentioned the outlying attractions like beaches and theme parks as a reason to send visitors to Los Angeles. But a couple of the delegates said they were impressed by downtown Los Angeles. Most of the delegates stayed at hotels in the downtown area but visited other areas on tours arranged by the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The delegates said they were impressed by the skyline and things to do in downtown like the museums, Angels Flight, the Los Angeles Central Library and the various ethnic districts like Chinatown, Little Tokyo and Olvera Street.

The delegates said recent negative events here like the 1992 riot and 1994 earthquake have largely been forgotten by travelers. "It was a concern for a while but now no one thinks about it," said Albert Rico, director of incentive and group sales for Maritz de Mexico, a travel company in Mexico City.