People to Watch
YouTubers
Our tip to keep an eye on “YouTubers” in 2015 has paid off—the celebrities of online streaming video and the fans who watch them, as an increasing cohort of businesspeople turn that viewing relationship into an industry.
VidCon—the trade and consumer show that takes place each summer at the Anaheim Convention Center—signed a five-year deal this year with Visit Anaheim, keeping the event here through 2020.
VidCon said last month that it will add a gaming component to the show, which is scheduled for June 23 to 25 next year.
2015 attendance was 19,500, up 8% over 2014’s 18,000 and 14 times higher than the inaugural gathering at a Los Angeles hotel in 2010, when 1,400 people attended.
Tickets next year are $100 to $750, depending on when they’re bought and who’s buying—fans, creators, or industry representatives. The top price is 25% higher than 2015.
Company to Watch
Montage Hotels & Resorts
Last year at this time, Montage Hotels & Resorts had just launched Pendry Hotels, catering to young urban travelers, and had broken ground on the first property in that portfolio, in San Diego.
Rumors swirled throughout this year over a second Pendry Hotel in downtown L.A. as Jason Herthel—promoted to president and chief operating officer in 2015—stayed mum on details.
Then reports in November from Baltimore said Montage would manage a $60 million indie hotel in the works there by Kevin Plank, the founder of apparel maker Under Armour Inc.
The Rec Pier hotel in the Fell’s Point neighborhood won’t be a Montage, but with a hip location on a pedestrian-friendly waterfront and a planned whiskey bar, it could become the fabled second Pendry.
Also this year, the Irvine-based resort manager said its Cabo San Lucas property—suspended by real estate woes and a hurricane—was back on track for a 2017-2018 winter season debut.
