L.A. mayor makes tourism pitch

Visiting Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa engaged in a tourism campaign Friday and Saturday designed to attract more Japanese travelers to the West Coast city.

Villaraigosa visited a FamilyMart Co. convenience store in central Tokyo on Friday to inspect promotional material for the See My LA advertising campaign, which FamilyMart will run in its stores throughout Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, according to a statement issued by the city of Los Angeles.

"We know how valuable travelers from Asia are to our tourism economy, and we are not taking anything for granted," Villaraigosa said.

He met government and business officials during his two-day visit.

Japanese make up the second biggest group of foreign visitors to Los Angeles and spend the most money, generating $347 million in 2005.

Taiwanese travelers spent $140 million there, and South Koreans spent $109 million in 2005, according to statistics provided by city.