We Take Travel Seriously…

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A few weeks ago on May 3, 2016, hundreds of New Orleans citizens gathered together to parade through the French Quarter. This was no strange occurrence for a city made famous for extravagant parades; however, the reason for this parade was different from the usual suspects. This parade was not in celebration of Mardi Gras or one of New Orleans’ many festivals. Instead this parade toasted one of New Orleans’ biggest economic drivers: tourism.

Hundreds of members of the hospitality and tourism community jubilantly strolled through the Vieux Carré cheering the slogan “Tourism Matters” in honor of National Travel and Tourism Week. It would be hard to find a place where the validity of this slogan rang more true.

In 2015, 9.78 million visitors descended upon the Crescent City spending approximately $7 billion. These numbers show a dramatic increase from 2006, the first full year after Katrina , where only 3.7 visitors came to New Orleans spending $2.9 billion and nearly approached the 10.1 million visitor figure of 2004 the year prior to Hurricane Katrina, reflecting the substantial impact the tourism industry has had in revitalizing the city. In fact, in each of the ten consecutive years following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has witnessed an increase in visitors and their spending.

Additionally, the travel and tourism industry accounts for over 80,000 jobs in the state of Louisiana, and that number will only continue to grow, as New Orleans officials recently finalized an agreement to convert the 33 story World Trade Center at the foot of Canal Street, into a Four Seasons and construction of the new $807 million expansion at Louis Armstrong International has begun.

This trend of the travel and tourism industry being an increasing vital driver of the economy can be seen on the national level as well. In 2015 the direct contribution of travel and tourism was $488 billion (2.7% of total GDP). Furthermore, the travel and tourism directly supported 5.633 million jobs (3.8% of total employment in the United States).*

As a Destination Management Company, BBC strongly believes in the power of travel not only as a job creator/catalyst for economic vitality, but as a mind-altering tool. Sounds pretty serious right? Well, it is serious. We take what we do very seriously. Travel creates better citizens of the world. Travel expands our minds. Travel gives us new a perspective to bring back to our hometowns, offices, and daily lives that will help us grow and be the best we can be. As New Orleans CVB President, Steven Perry puts it…

“Travel is the ultimate enemy of bigotry and ignorance, and has a profound impact on tearing down walls.”

Travel can change the way we see each other. As citizens of New Orleans, the United States, and of the World—we are proud to serve as facilitators of these eye-opening events and experiences. Cheers to everyone working in hospitality and tourism industry. What we do is important. We brought back our city from disaster and we will continue to introduce the world to the magic that is New Orleans—because it is just too good to keep to ourselves.

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Lyndi Smith & David Rome at the National Travel and Tourism Week Second Line Parade! Check out #TourismMatters to learn more!