ERNEST WOODEN JR.

Chief Executive

Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board

Ernest “Ernie” Wooden Jr., chief executive of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, has spent his entire career in the hospitality industry, including more than a decade in senior leadership positions in both global brand management and operations with Hilton Hotels Corp. The L.A. Tourism & Convention Board was created in 1977 as a private nonprofit business association. L.A. Tourism works with more than 1,100 member businesses from the hospitality community. Its marketing efforts target the convention business, domestic and international leisure travelers, the travel trade and global media. In 2017 Los Angeles saw its seventh-consecutive year of tourism growth with a 2.2 percent year-over-year increase to 48.3 million visitors.