NOLA Mayor Seeks Multi-Million Dollar Grant From BPNo doubt we’ve all heard the expression that “perception is reality.” It may not be real, but perceptions often have a way of taking on lives of their own and before you know it, it’s almost as if the perception has created a type of self-fulfilling prophecy. That is precisely what tourism and hospitality businesses in New Orleans are concerned about in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, and why New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is seeking a significant tourism grant from BP, the party primarily responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.
On June 17, Mayor Landrieu sent a letter to the leadership of BP, requesting a direct tourism grant to New Orleans in the amount of $75 million over a three-year period to mitigate the long-term effects of the oil spill crisis on tourism, the largest contributor to the city’s economy.
New Orleans is the most significant tourism asset in Louisiana. The city hosts over seven million visitors per year, with visitor spending reaching $5 billion annually. The resulting $225 million in tax revenues are responsible for thirty percent of the city’s operating budget.
“The City of New Orleans is singular among American cities in that we have had to formulate and execute a recovery strategy from three major disasters—9/11, Hurricane Katrina and now the Deepwater Horizon spill,” Landrieu stated in announcing the request. “As the largest economic driver in the city, the tourism industry has been the centerpiece of New Orleans ’ economic recovery efforts. In the same way that we organized the recovery of the tourism industry following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the current crisis in the Gulf makes it critical for us to step up again to save this essential economic resource. Convincing travelers that New Orleans is open for business is key to maintaining our base tourism economy.”
As of April 2010, New Orleans had only returned to seventy-five percent of its pre-Katrina visitor levels. New Orleans tourism-generated visitor spending was averaging approximately $600 million per month in 2010.
“The Gulf oil spill has the great potential to negatively impact the bit of progress we’ve made since Hurricane Katrina, and we must be prepared as a city to stand up our tourism and hospitality industry. In doing so, we will preserve the city’s reputation as a top destination and ensure that the livelihoods of those who are employed in making New Orleans the most authentic and culturally rich place it is today are protected,” said Landrieu.
If approved by BP, the proposed $75 million in funding would be used to create and execute a comprehensive strategy and plan to aggressively market and promote New Orleans as a world-class travel destination that is open for business and offers the authentic experience that millions have come to expect and enjoy.
According to data from the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, assuming a moderate loss of two percent of confirmed visitors who decide to cancel their trips to New Orleans, plus an additional 10 percent lost in new business revenues, total revenue declines of $60 million per month could occur. This real and measurable impact would cause severe and long-lasting financial strain on the city, the business community and the livelihoods of those who depend on tourism for jobs, the bureau says.
Joining the mayor in making the announcement were tourism industry leaders and representatives who make a living in the hospitality and tourism industry, including Maurice Alvarado, a member of the service staff from Brennan’s Restaurant; Michael Broadway, oyster shucker for 38 years, the last 28 at Acme Oyster House; Ben Jaffe, a musician, director and tuba player for Preservation Hall Jazz Band; Chef Donald Link, chef and owner of Herbsaint, Cochon, Butcher and Calcasieu; Adrienne Thomas, director of marketing for the New Orleans Steamboat Company and Grayline Tours; and Malcolm Thompson, head bellman from the Royal Sonesta. They are among the more than 65,000 people in New Orleans employed by the hospitality industry.
“Tourism, a perception driven industry, does not just happen. It is the result of carefully plotted brand and marketing strategies,” said Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. “By partnering with the Mayor, our goals are to strengthen the confidence in our highly diverse and widespread customer base and to maintain and grow visitation to the Greater New Orleans area. We must stabilize brand damage, promote and market the authentic New Orleans experience and work collaboratively to preserve the economic base of New Orleans.”
The need to preserve that base as a result of negative perception has already begun to rear its ugly head. Pam Breaux, Secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism reported in days shortly before the grant request was made that a national survey indicated that 26 percent of those polled were “actively canceling” trips they had planned to the state before the spill, and 43 percent “believe the oil spill devastation is about the same as or worse than that of hurricanes Katrina and Rita” in 2005.
“Our hotel community is fielding calls from both those who already have reservations and those considering traveling to New Orleans, answering questions about the city’s current situation because of the spill. Many are expressing doubts about coming for a meeting, convention or for leisure travel,” said Mavis Early, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association. “The need for aggressive marketing is already clear, and will be necessary for years, unfortunately, based on what we experienced after Katrina.”
It’s hard to talk about this situation without referring to Katrina, say many in the industry.
“This year we are having our best year since Katrina, but having said that we are still only at 75 percent of our pre-Katrina numbers, and that’s using numbers from before the oil spill,” said Gordon Stevens, president and CEO of New Orleans Steamboat Company and Grayline Tours. “Since the spill I’d say our numbers have developed at about or a little less than what we did last June, which puts us at about 65 percent of pre-Katrina numbers. It is hard to say that that’s because of the oil spill but by the same token we’re getting calls from people who are clearly concerned about the oil spill.”
Right after the spill occurred, Stevens said people would calls and ask how they were doing when they made reservations, but that has changed the longer the oil continues to gush into the Gulf.
“Now we’re getting a lot of questions about it, like is there seafood here to eat and if so is it safe, is there oil on the Mississippi River, and that kind of thing,” Stevens said. “It’s a misconception, very much like the misconception people had about New Orleans right after Katrina. The downtown tourism areas were fine and not affected by the flooding, but people all over the country and world perceived that it was. We finally were able to dispel that belief, but it took quite a few years to do that.”
[Cheryl Hentz, Contributing Writer]
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