The tourism and convention business in New Orleans has made major rebounds as the pandemic has subsided, but could inflation and a potential recession erase those gains?
"We're seeing a strong rebound of conventions for the fall of 2022," said Kelly Schulz, VP of Communications with New Orleans & Company.
Schulz says recession worries aren't scaring off bookings, either, as most conventions book too far in advance to worry about that sort of thing.
"We are booking groups now for 2030, into 2035 if you can believe it," she said. "We're focused on conventions that are coming for five, ten, fifteen years in the future."
Unlike leisure travelers, conventioneers tend to stay longer, spend more, and spend differently than a typical tourist would.
"For example, a leisure traveler's not going to need to come here and necessarily use an audio-visual company," Schulz said, "or a transportation provider."
