Santa Monica’s Tourism Report Reveals Economic Gains, Industry Optimism for 2024
City Welcomes 4.2M Visitors, Celebrates Local Heroes at Annual Tourism Summit
Santa Monica Travel & Tourism (SMTT) hosted its 16th annual Tourism Summit on June 12 at the Jonathan Beach Club, drawing nearly 200 attendees from across the community to recognize the ongoing strength of the city’s tourism sector and to celebrate key partners in public safety and hospitality.
During the summit, SMTT unveiled its 2024 Tourism Economic and Fiscal Impact report, which showed that more than 4.2 million visitors contributed over $916.6 million to the local economy last year. The report measures tourism’s impact on Santa Monica’s fiscal health, including spending, employment, and tax revenues.
According to the findings, the city collected $62.7 million in Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) in 2024: a 0.7% increase over the previous year. The TOT, which comes exclusively from hotel guests, directly supports city services such as public safety, homelessness programs, education, and the upkeep of parks and beaches.
Tourism also supported 6,487 local jobs, underscoring its significance as a driver of employment in the region. The debut of several new hospitality and
retail businesses, including the Regent Santa Monica Beach hotel, Din Tai Fung, and the Google Store on the Third Street Promenade, has expanded career opportunities and consumer options.
“We are so inspired by our tourism partners’ resilience through challenges and passion to serve both visitors and our neighbors,” said SMTT President/ CEO Misti Kerns. “As our industry faces continued hurdles, I am encouraged by our community’s strength to adapt and confident in our longstanding and brandnew tourism offerings that continue to draw travelers from around the world to our beloved beach city. All are welcome in Santa Monica.”
Keynote speaker Caroline Beteta, President and CEO of Visit California, addressed the broader state of tourism across the Golden State, noting that California remains a global draw despite recent adversities, including wildfires and geopolitical tensions. She praised Santa Monica as a quintessential California experience and emphasized Visit California’s commitment to supporting local destinations in their recovery and long-term success.
Geoff Freeman, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, offered a national overview, highlighting a recent dip and rebound in international travel. “In March, international arrivals to the U.S. declined by 14%, but by April, we saw an 8% increase.”
Kerns echoed the urgency of supporting tourism nationwide, adding, “This industry fuels more than 15 million American jobs
and contributes $1.3 trillion in visitor spending annually. Now more than ever, we need to champion the people and communities behind these numbers.”
The summit also honored several local heroes. The Santa Monica Police Department, Fire Department, and Office of Emergency Management received the Jeff King Tourism Champion Award for their critical service during the Los Angeles wildfires. Their swift action and unwavering dedication were recognized as essential to ensuring public safety during a crisis.
Chef Vittorio Lucariello of Shutters on the Beach received the Thelma Parks Tourism
Spirit Award, honoring his excellence in hospitality and his leadership both in the kitchen and in the community. Lucariello was awarded a $1,000 scholarship and a staycation package sponsored by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and SMTT.
The summit included panels and presentations offering in-depth perspectives on retail, dining, and lodging. Speakers included Erin Francis-Cummings, President and CEO of Future Partners, and a trio of industry leaders from California’s hospitality, restaurant, and retail sectors: Rachel Michelin, Jot Condie, and Lynn Mohrfeld.
Santa Monica Police Arrest Man in Attempted Sexual Assault of 84-Year-Old Woman
Suspect Charged With Multiple Felonies After Attack Near 6th and Wilshire
Police have arrested a Long Beach man in connection with the attempted sexual assault of an elderly woman in downtown Santa Monica earlier this month, authorities announced.
Officers responded around 9:30 p.m. on June 5 to reports of a woman screaming for help near the intersection of 6th Street and
Wilshire Boulevard. When officers arrived, they found an 84-year-old Santa Monica resident in visible distress. The woman told police that a man had approached her from behind, grabbed her, and dragged her into a nearby alley, where he attempted to sexually assault her.
Several witnesses who were in the area at the time corroborated the woman’s account and reported seeing the suspect flee northbound from the scene. Officers canvassed the area and located a man matching the description near 5th Street and California Avenue. He was detained without incident.
The suspect was later identified as 39-year-old Pape Tall, a resident of Long Beach. According to the Santa Monica
Police Department, Tall was formally charged on June 9 by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He faces multiple felony charges, including kidnapping with intent to commit rape, assault with intent to commit rape, and violation of probation. He remains in custody without bail and is scheduled to appear in court on July 9.
Police are asking anyone who may have additional information related to the case to contact Detective Maricela Orta at (310) 458-2293 or maricela.orta@santamonica. gov. Tips can also be directed to Sergeant Chad Goodwin at (310) 458-8931 or the Santa Monica Police Department Watch Commander’s desk at (310) 458-8427, available 24 hours a day.
Here’s The Pride Events Coming to Santa Monica This Weekend
They offer a mix of entertainment, sports, family activities, and community resources
Santa Monica will mark Pride Month with a full day of events on Saturday, June 21, 2025, across the Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica Place, and Main Street, offering a mix of entertainment, sports, family activities, and community resources.
The Santa Monica Pier will host Fabulous Fables: Drag Queen Pride Family-Edition from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Merry Go-Round Building. The free event, in partnership with The Crow Comedy Club, includes face painting, a Santa Monica Playhouse performance, a poetry reading by Santa Monica Poet Laureate Anne Carmack, drag storytelling, and a Books & Cookies pop-up. Local vendors will offer family-friendly goods.
From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Pride at the Pier Beach Sporting Experience, hosted
by OutLoud Sports, will feature minitournaments in kickball, dodgeball, soccer, football, volleyball, tennis, and cornhole, alongside music, food, and drinks. Nearby, Pride Point Volleyball will run an openformat beach volleyball tournament for all skill levels, emphasizing inclusivity.
At Santa Monica Place, the Pride Disco and Kid Zone from noon to 4 p.m. will offer a family-friendly silent disco and craft activities with Cayton Children’s Museum. A monthlong Lanterns of Love display will light up Center Plaza with colorful Pride-themed lanterns.
On Third Street Promenade, Pride on the Promenade runs from 2 to 7 p.m., featuring live music, interactive games, giveaways, and booths from LGBTQ+ businesses and community organizations. The event coincides with Downtown Santa Monica’s new Entertainment Zone, allowing attendees to carry alcoholic beverages while strolling.
Main Street Santa Monica will close to traffic from Strand Street to Pier Avenue, hosting Drag Bingo in the Beer Garden from 3 to 6 p.m. alongside the Summer Soulstice celebration, which includes live music, art installations, sidewalk sales, and family activities. Tickets for Drag Bingo are available at mainstreetsm.com.
The weekend wraps up on Sunday, June
22, with the Pride on the Pier Dance Party, featuring music and entertainment by the ocean.
For more details, visit SMPride.com or eventeny.com/events/pride-on-thepromenade-20126.
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The city claims the department launched a 20242028 Strategic Plan focusing on innovative policing and staff wellness
The City of Santa Monica is alleging significant progress in public safety for 2024, according to its recently released annual crime report by the Santa Monica Police Department. Issued on June 11, 2025, the report claims a 2% drop in serious Part I crimes, totaling 4,840 incidents, down from 4,917 in 2023, despite challenges like homelessness and staffing shortages.
The SMPD reports a record 128,820 calls for service in 2024, a 25% increase from the prior year, with officer-initiated calls soaring 96% to 51,616, reflecting heightened patrol activity. Homelessnessrelated calls rose 26% to nearly 24,000, comprising 19% of total calls. Notable crime trends include a 25% decrease in robberies, a 16% drop in auto theft, and a 17% rise in residential burglaries, with larceny/theft remaining the most reported offense at approximately 3,000 cases. Homicides increased from one to six, often
linked to knife-related aggravated assaults and homelessness issues.
The city claims the department launched a 2024-2028 Strategic Plan focusing on innovative policing and staff wellness.
In May 2024, SMPD adopted the Versaterm Records Management System and the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), enhancing data accuracy and analysis, with public crime dashboards slated for June 2025. Arrests rose 3%, with 60% involving unhoused individuals, while the Crime Impact Team made 117 felony arrests and the Directed Action Response Team cleared 430 encampments, a 56% arrest increase from 2023.
On the Third Street Promenade, Part I crimes rose 2% and Part II crimes 5%, driven by pickpocketing and narcotics arrests, with 70% of 256 arrests tied to homeless individuals. The Homeless Liaison Program handled 4,541 calls and 335 encampment clearances. The Drone as First Responder program logged 1,551 flights, aiding 264 detentions, while a $6.1 million grant funds the emerging Santa Monica Real-Time Crime Center, integrating CCTV, Flock Safety Cameras, and live feeds.
Recruitment saw 12 officers hired in 2024 and 13 in 2025, with female representation reaching 15%, above the national average. Community sentiment surveys of over 2,000 residents flagged homelessness and drug activity as top concerns, yet support for safety measures remains strong.
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Santa Monica Needs to See the Light
SMa.r.t.
Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow
How Santa Monica’s Growing Light Pollution Is Eroding Human Health, Safety, and Sanity
There was a time when our coastal night meant something—when day left, stars emerged, and the world, at last, exhaled. Now, the downtown skyline hums with artificial light. The stars have practically vanished. And something else may be vanishing, too: our health, our safety, our sanity.
This is the age of light pollution—bright, loud, and blinding. And it may be one of the most overlooked threats to quality of life in modern cities. Like Flagstaff, Arizona, Palo Alto, and Los Altos in California, Santa Monica should be at the forefront of implementing and enforcing zoning and building codes that limit unnecessary illumination, including but not limited to advertising billboards, to ensure the night sky remains visible even within our commercial and urban areas.
California’s CALGreen Code (Section 5.106.8) integrates light pollution reduction into its building standards, enforcing limits on upward light, glare, and backlighting. However, is this truly sufficient? Is our city taking the initiative, as it does on many environmental issues, by prioritizing and enforcing the importance of this? We think not.
The Eternal Glow
High-powered streetlights, glowing billboards, glass towers lit from within,
and floodlit roads all contribute to an environment of constant, low-level brightness. It’s easy to think this is a symbol of progress. But there’s a darker truth.
The human body is designed to follow the rhythms of natural light. Our circadian rhythm—a finely tuned biological clock— depends on the rise and fall of sunlight to regulate sleep, mood, hormone production, and even cellular repair. Artificial light at night, especially in urban environments, disrupts this cycle.
Medical studies have linked light pollution to:
• Reduced melatonin production and poor sleep quality
• Increased risk of depression and anxiety disorders
• Higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease
• Greater incidence of hormonerelated cancers
In short, living in perpetual twilight doesn’t just steal our rest. It silently chips away at our health.
The Myth of More Light
City planners often argue that well-lit streets prevent crime and improve safety. In truth, excessive or poorly designed lighting can have the opposite effect.
Light pollution creates harsh contrast and deep shadows where danger can lurk. It reduces visibility through glare. It washes out security camera footage. And it gives a false sense of security to residents who assume brightness equals protection.
Worse, invasive lighting that spills into residential spaces—known as light trespass—erodes sleep and mental well-being. Apartment dwellers battle
streetlamps that blast through curtains. Children sleep under ceilings that glow faintly blue from nearby billboards. People grow tired, irritable, and disconnected.
Over lighting is not urban safety. It’s an aesthetic distraction. And it’s making our cities sicker.
The Slow Unraveling
You might not notice it right away. The exhaustion builds gradually. You wake up groggy. You stop dreaming. You forget what real darkness looks like. Maybe your child asks what stars really are—and you realize he’s never seen a sky without haze.
These are the subtler, more haunting effects of light pollution. Not just physiological, but psychological. We are creatures of balance. Without darkness, our systems falter. Without rest, our thoughts fragment.
A Way Back to Night
The good news? There are ways to fight back—and they don’t require plunging cities into total blackout. Smart urban lighting strategies can dramatically reduce light pollution without sacrificing safety or aesthetics. Some of this is already on the books, but is not being enforced.
Solutions include:
• Shielded lighting: Fixtures that direct light downward, not skyward
• Smart streetlights: Systems that dim or deactivate when no one is present
• Stricter headlight regulations:
Reducing headlight glare and ensuring proper alignment
• Zoning laws: Limiting the brightness of signs and outdoor lighting in Commercial and Residential areas
Urban darkness is not a threat. It is a natural necessity. One we’ve forgotten how to value.
Let’s Not Forget Those Headlights Like Hellfire
Another less-discussed culprit? Newer automobile headlights are increasing the risk on the roads.
Over the past two decades, modern vehicles have transitioned from traditional halogen bulbs to ultra-bright LEDs and high-intensity discharge (HID) systems. These lights are brilliant—efficient,
powerful, and long-lasting. They are also often blinding.
Drivers now contend with a barrage of excessively bright, often misaligned headlights, especially from larger vehicles like SUVs and trucks. The outcome: road glare that can lead to temporary blindness, slower reaction times, and a rise in nighttime driving accidents. Pedestrians and cyclists are particularly at risk, disoriented by beams intense enough to turn crosswalks into interrogation rooms.
The technology may be newer, but the safety risks are very real and dangerous, as
this can cause drivers to lose their focus— This Is a Growing Problem. Final Thoughts Light was meant to free us, to make us safer, smarter, and more evolved. But in our rush to conquer the dark, we’ve overlooked what it provided us: sleep, stars, privacy, and stillness. Without those elements, a city doesn’t truly rest; it lingers—lit up, yes—but anxious and out of balance.
So tonight, look up. If you can’t see the stars (or just a few), ask yourself what else have we blinded ourselves to in the name of progress?
Second Doctor to Plead Guilty in Matthew Perry Ketamine Case, Faces
Up to 40 Years
Doctor Admits to Illegally Supplying Ketamine to the Actor and His Assistant
One of the physicians charged in connection with actor Matthew Perry’s fatal ketamine overdose will plead guilty to federal drug distribution charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who operated an urgent care clinic in Malibu, is expected to enter a guilty plea to four counts of distributing ketamine without a legitimate medical purpose. The charges carry a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
The plea agreement identifies Plasencia as a key figure in the drug supply chain that led to the October 2023 death of Perry, best known for his role on the television series Friends. Perry, 54, was found unresponsive in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28, 2023. An autopsy determined he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
According to the agreement filed in federal court, Plasencia provided vials, lozenges, and syringes of ketamine to Perry and the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, between Sept. 30 and Oct. 12, 2023. Plasencia admitted that his actions failed to meet accepted medical standards and were not based on legitimate treatment needs.
The plea deal details numerous transactions and interactions, including one incident in which Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry in a Long Beach parking lot. He also supplied doses to Iwamasa, fully aware that the assistant lacked medical training but would be administering the drug.
Despite a visible adverse reaction during an October 12 visit, when Perry’s blood pressure spiked and his body “froze up,” Plasencia continued to provide ketamine. He later texted Iwamasa about leaving additional
supplies with a nurse while he was away for the weekend.
While Plasencia was not the source of the ketamine that killed Perry, another defendant, Eric Fleming, admitted in court to distributing the fatal dose. Fleming pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy and distribution charges and is set to be sentenced
Michael Jolly for SMa.r.t.
Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow
Samuel Tolkin, Architect & Planning Commissioner; Thane Roberts, Architect; Mario Fonda-Bonardi AIA, Architect; Robert H. Taylor AIA, Architect; Dan Jansenson, Architect & Building and FireLife Safety Commission; Michael Jolly, AIRCRE; Jack Hillbrand AIA, Landmarks Commission Architect; Matt Hoefler NCARB, Architect; Phil Brock, SM Mayor (ret)
in November.
Iwamasa also entered a guilty plea in August 2024 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death. He is scheduled for sentencing in November as well.
Dr. Mark Chavez, another physician involved in the case, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to ketamine distribution. Chavez had supplied ketamine to Plasencia and is due for sentencing in September.
Court documents reveal that Perry asked Iwamasa to help acquire ketamine in September 2023, offering cash and reimbursement. The actor was introduced to Plasencia by a mutual acquaintance who described Perry as a “high-profile person” willing to pay “cash and lots of thousands.”
Even after being told Perry’s drug use was “spiraling out of control,” Plasencia continued to provide ketamine, prosecutors said.
Trial for Plasencia had been set for August prior to the plea agreement.
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