The city and people of New Orleans are approaching the core of Carnival season, and Walt Leger is approaching his third month as the president and CEO of New Orleans & Company.
As described on its website, New Orleans & Company is “the only organization devoted full-time to selling, marketing and promoting New Orleans as the premier convention and leisure destination.” Before the start of the pandemic, tourism and hospitality in New Orleans was a $10 billion industry.
Leger replaces Stephen Perry who spent 20 years with the organization, which was the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau until it was rebranded under its current name in 2018. Perry had some notable confrontations with leaders of city government during his time as president.
For Leger, he’s had history with many of the political players at City Hall. Leger served with some of them during his 12 years as a member of Louisiana’s House of Representatives.
Leger describes his relationship with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell as “collegial.” It’s a description that couldn’t be applied to his predecessor’s relationship with the mayor during the difficult days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Perry harshly criticized Cantrell for implementing what he viewed as business-killing restrictions on the community. Cantrell called Perry’s interaction with her administration unprofessional.
At one point, Cantrell’s administration released text messages Perry had sent to some of its staff which were peppered with profanities.
In some ways, Leger has a clean slate on that political front. But he’s facing some of the same challenges that have hung over the city for decades. They include crime and public safety.
Those issues can hurt the image New Orleans & Company is trying to sell to the rest of the world, but Leger told me something which didn’t originate in New Orleans is hurting tourism more than headlines about violence and bloodshed. Click the link above to hear our conversation.
