Boosting Hollywood

It was 75 years ago that movie-house mogul Sid Grauman told his chauffeur to pick up a party of soldiers at Hollywood an Highland and take them to ogle homes of Tinseltown's biggest stars. The Beverly Hills tour launched by Bud Dell in 1935 has since become Starline Tours - one of Hollywood's biggest draws, with 150 buses and more than 1 million sightseers a year.Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

"Hollywood is a No. 1 destination," said Starline President Vahid Sapir, who bought the tour service from Dell in 1968. "(But) we definitely want more."

He will get it if Los Angeles officials and Hollywood business leaders have their way. On Thursday, a coalition of movers and shakers in one of the world's best-known tourist meccas kicked off a marketing campaign to get more locals and out-of-towners to head to Hollywood.