New Mexico gains at the cost of Los Angeles

Monday, January 31, 2022

The movie industry isn’t the only thing migrating to New Mexico from the Los Angeles area.

So are tourists, according to state officials.

The New Mexico Department of Tourism announced earlier this month that its New Mexico True media campaign in Los Angeles, which started in May 2021, was a success. According to a news release, the advertising resulted in an estimated 80,000 leisure trips and millions of dollars crossed the borders with them.

Cody Johnson, communications director for the tourism department, said the state conducted a return on investment study to determine whether the advertising had any impact. The state invested $1.9 million into the Los Angeles campaign. Johnson said based on survey responses in the study, the department estimates that trips from Los Angeles visitors generated $107 million in spending in 2021.

Advertising included digital and static billboards, targeted advertising online, and within social media and streaming apps.

“The New Mexico Tourism Department is tasked with strategically investing our advertising dollars that yield the greatest return for New Mexico,” said tourism secretary Jen Paul Schroer in a news release. “And the results from this study demonstrate how our data-driven approach to advertising is delivering for New Mexicans.”

Those surveyed liked that the advertising portrayed authentic experiences, highlighted great outdoor adventures and made the state seem welcoming to others.

Although Los Angeles is within a day’s drive and has a large population, it was not an area the department had been targeting recently, Johnson said. The most recent targeted markets were San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Austin, Texas. The pandemic, Johnson said, put a pause on tourism, but it gave the department time to study perspective markets. That feedback pointed to Los Angeles.

When deciding where to advertise, Johnson said the department looks at a few variables.

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