Ranking only behind Greater New York City, the Los Angeles metropolitan area—with a swaggering population of nearly 13 million—is home to more people than 45 U.S. states.
And a great swath of it, dubbed “The Inland Empire,” now ranks as the 12th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., thanks to Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga, the largest cities of Greater Ontario. And the region is investing in its future big time.
In 2023, the Greater Ontario CVB changed its name to GOCAL to focus on “next-generation tourism and hospitality planning.”
Its central location offers access to everything Southern California has to offer, asserts Michael Krouse, GOCAL president and CEO.
“You can be at the beach in the morning and skiing in the afternoon,” he said. “We can get you from Palm Springs and the desert to Disneyland. Right here in our backyard, we have mountains, lake communities, deserts, Southern California wine country—we have it all.”
Several projects in GOCAL’s top cities are coming into their own.