Earlier this month the iconic Hollywood Sign was covered up for five days with red letters spelling out the phrase “SAVE the PEAK”. The sign was covered by the “Save Cahuenga Peak” campaign, whose aim is to keep the 138-acre tract of land located behind on the left of the Hollywood sign the way it is right now. The land is currently privately owned and is set to be developed so that the view will eventually be marred by mansions. In order to protect the land, the campaign has to raise a total of $12.5 million by April 14, 2010. The money will be used to purchase the land and so hopefully preserve the view.

Right now though it seems that the campaign is not taking off as well as they would want it too despite the support of celebs like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tippi Hedren, Aisha Tyler, and John Slattery. The Save Cahuenga Peak campaign site shows the online campaign progress at just $40,355, a mere 8 percent of their target $500,000. We can only hope for them that the celebs will be more receptive to the cause and start turning out their pockets in a hurry. With all the natural disasters happening all over the world today though and so much charity that needs attention most might feel that trying to save a sign, however iconic it is, should come second to giving to the more worthy causes. And with the economy you can expect that only those who have a really special connection with the Hollywood sign will be willing to spend money to save the sign.

You would think that Hollywood has no problems when it comes to attracting visitors. Immortalized in movies, songs, and TV shows, Hollywood is a place that people around the world dream of visiting. Why should they have any problems when it comes to lack of tourists? Indeed, their problem just might be the opposite – too many visitors to handle.

Apparently, Hollywood is no different from any other city in that it needs advertising campaigns to push the tourism industry. In fact, this year, they are launching Visit Hollywood 2010, a campaign to showcase what Hollywood has to offer. I don’t really understand why they have to do that, but that goes to show how much I know! The L.A. Times reports:

The effort comes as the travel and tourism industries begin to show signs of rebounding from the worst economic recession in a generation.

For example, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hollywood Walk of Fame; the 70th anniversary of the Hollywood Palladium theater; and the 25th anniversary of the Rock Walk, a rock music tribute along Sunset Boulevard.

I suppose that this year does merit highlighting many things in Hollywood. After all, you can’t have too many visitors bringing money into the coffers. With these milestones happening in 2010, I cannot think of a better time to pay Hollywood a visit. If you’re planning a major trip this year, then why not Hollywood?