I'm sure kalifornia loses alot of business because of their laws where only criminals can have guns. My inlaws were traveling the country last summer and decided against going into the kali zone because of their laws against upstanding citizens with ccw. They turned north and just considered kali a foreign country. They were on a 3 month tour.
That's too bad- there's alot to see here, and in nearly 60 years I still haven't seen it all. We are the most diverse State, and from Death Valley to Yosemite to the Coast Redwoods to Tahoe there's a beautiful country to explore.
But then again that's the problem we have with our image- people from Middle America- good, God fearing, right wing conservative Christian people- read horror stories about gang shootings, drive bys, etc., and it scares them.
I could suggest to your in laws they skip the tour of Watts and Compton, as there's not much to see there anyway, and instead focus on the natural beauty we have but- why? I gave up trying to educate the ignorant long long ago, so if some people are so fearful, so afraid of visiting California then great- by all means, spend that extra two weeks touring North Dakota or Iowa- there's an awful lot to see in those States, too, if you're into the world's largest ball of string- and avoid California all together. After all, the entire State is controlled by either gang bangers or old hippies.