“In an industry driven by perception and image, momentum matters,” says President and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOCVB), Stephen Perry.
New Orleans experienced its highest visitor spend in 2011 with 8.75m visitors, up 5.6 per cent on 2010. These generated an economic impact of US$5.47bn, and the city will be looking to build on these figures in 2013. Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast last year will have brought back memories of a difficult time for New Orleans when in August 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. Seven years on, however, and statistics from the NOCVB show the city is making its comeback with year-on-year growth in visitor numbers, economic impact and events held.
According to a study by the University of New Orleans (UNO) Hospitality Research Centre, in the first six months of last year the Big Easy, as it is affectionately known, welcomed 4.9m visitors, an increase of two per cent over the same period in 2011. The $3.45bn generated in economic impact
is an 11 per cent increase on 2011.
“The UNO visitor study provides strong evidence of the continued upward trend of the New Orleans tourism industry,” says Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “This growth demonstrates the resiliency of the industry and the importance the cultural economy plays in the overall economic health of our city and region.”
Landrieu goes on to say these results are a testament to the resilience of New Orleans and the reputation of the city will continue to grow “as evidenced by the run of special events we continue
to host as we work toward the goal of welcoming 13m visitors in 2018”.
Last year New Orleans hosted conferences such as the International Disaster Conference and Expo and the American Academy of Paediatrics National Conference and Exhibition as well as sporting events including the 2012 American college football BCS National Championship Game and 2012 NCAA Men’s Final Four Basketball Championship. Sporting events alone generated more than $400m in economic impact to the city in 2012.
In 2011, more than 1.2m visitors chose New Orleans for a convention or meeting. VP of Sales for the NOCVB, Nikki Moon, says ease of access in the city is a major plus for meeting planners and delegates. “The first and biggest selling point of New Orleans is how walkable the city is. From a meeting planner’s point of view, the walkability of the city saves in terms of shuttles. Delegates can easily make their way around, with 22,500 hotel rooms, including a 1,600-room Hilton hotel, available just across the street from the convention centre. In addition, four blocks away we have a 1,400-room Marriott and 1,200-room Sheraton hotel.
“Our attendance figures are strong and we expect convention attendees to have generated 1.3m room nights in 2012, which is approaching our pre-storm levels of 1.5m in 2005,” she adds.
The positive momentum achieved by New Orleans’ tourism industry in 2012 comes as the city prepares to host the Super Bowl XLVII in February and the National Basketball Association Men’s Allstar Game in 2014.
“New Orleans is hosting the Super Bowl in the first week of February, and as we approach this event many hotels in the city have undergone refurbishments, while a $300,000 renovation is taking place at the airport,” says Moon.
Following an $18m renovation Hyatt French Quarter opened in May 2012, making it the third Hyatt Hotel in the New Orleans market within the last year, and the Hard Rock Café has plans to open in the Hyatt French Quarter.
The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (MCCNO) has mirrored the comeback story of the city, and, after acting as a refuge for residents after Hurricane Katrina, hosted 123 events in 2012. Of the overall 8.75m visitors to the city, 46.1 percent attended events at the MCCNO.
The Essence Music Festival in July at the MCCNO attracted 150,000 attendees, while pre-audit figures from the American Academy of Paediatrics conference revealed that the 12,000 delegates made for the third highest attendance figure in its history. The centre also welcomed back the Society of Neuroscience for its annual meeting last year. The society had previously cancelled its meetings in 2006 and 2009 due to uncertainty over the city’s future.
In 2013, the centre will welcome 75,000 delegates for the NFL Experience in January and 35,000 for the World Educational Congress of Laundering and Drycleaning in June.
MCCNO’s Great Hall will debut this month featuring a 5,600sqm divisible Great Hall and 2,360sqm pre-function space, as well as a rooftop terrace, indoor balcony and executive club lounge.
Another meeting venue that has undergone an investment programme is the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which recently completed its $85m renovation, part of an overall $336m renovation that began in 2006. Enhancements to the venue include an expansion of the Plaza Level concourse, 3,100 additional Plaza Level seats, 186 digital concourse monitors and two new premium Bunker Club Lounges. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome hosted 45 events in the last fiscal year (between July 2011 and 30 June 2012), with over 1.3m attendees.
“Many of the major conference hotels and the main New Orleans convention centre have seen extensive refurbishment, as has the Superdome which is now ready to host the 2013 SuperBowl,” says Business Development Director at Carlson Wagonlit Travel Meetings and Event, Jane Baker.
“I’d recommend the city for a late booked incentive or teambuilding trip for early February to coincide with the four-day SuperBowl festival, National Football League (NFL) Tailgate Party or the big game itself. Otherwise, there are new bars and restaurants, a series of food, music and arts festivals taking place throughout the year, plus ongoing social projects for those who want to add a CSR element to their programme,” she adds.
As a city famous for its cuisine, music and annual celebrations and festivals New Orleans continued to host its annual Mardi Gras throughout the recovery efforts, and in 2011 New Orleans area hotels reported nearly sold-out numbers with crowds reaching over 1m.
According to a new study from the Carnival Krewe Civic Foundation, the economic value of the 2011 Mardi Gras season showed a total contribution to the economy of $300.7m. Last year’s Jazz and Heritage festival saw over 450,000 attendees, the highest figure since 2003.
In addition to the physical rebuilding of the city, New Orleans was faced with the task of making sure peoples’ perceptions of the city have not been tainted by Hurricane Katrina. Part of
this process involves reassuring potential clients and delegates that the city is fully prepared to cope with any future hurricanes or tropical storms.
“Visitors won’t come to a destination with a negative reputation,” says CEO of the NOCVB, Stephen Perry.
In a survey commissioned by the NOCVB last year 70 per cent of respondents said their perception of the city had changed in the six years since Katrina hit, with many citing successful recovery and rebuilding efforts.
“We learnt a lot after Hurricane Katrina and put together an emergency preparedness plan, which we share with groups who come to New Orleans as well as helping them with their own individual emergency plans. We work alongside the city, state, convention centre and hotels when it comes to the emergency plan, and it worked well with the [Tropical Storm] Isaac situation we faced in
August last year,” says Moon.
She says one of the most important factors when dealing with clients and the threat of a natural disaster is communication. “Constant communication with clients and making sure our website carries the most current information is essential,” she says. “Using social media, including our Facebook page, means we are able to keep clients up to date with the very latest information.”
Further proof of the city’s comeback was when it hosted the International Disaster Conference and Expo in 2012, which established the state of Louisiana as the centre of excellence for disaster management in terms of preparation, response, recovery and mitigation.
“Tourism, especially after a catastrophic hurricane that made headlines globally, doesn’t just happen. It is the result of aggressive sales and marketing strategies” says Perry.
It is these strategies, coupled with impressive recovery efforts that mean New Orleans is now looking ahead to a busy calender of events for 2013 and beyond.
– This was first published in Issue 70 CMW. Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net
