The report from American Hotel and Lodging Association says Louisiana will benefit from over a billion dollars in hotel tax revenue for 2023.
The estimation is a more than $48-million more than the previous record breaking year of 2019, which was $951-million.
Speaking with New Orleans and Company Chief Marketing Officer, Marc Romig, he says the time is now to put the foot on the gas and rev the tourism engine of the region:
“Our team here on the ground is working diligently to increase opportunities for groups and associations and special events to come into the city, utilize our hotels and provide a much stronger dollar spend here in the city of New Orleans and really throughout the state of Louisiana.”
Matching, or maybe exceeding Romig’s enthusiasm is Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser:
“It’s really great news, looking at the crowds for Mardi Gras, the bookings at hotels, we’re expecting when the 2023 numbers are in we will set a record, an all-time record for tourism, numbers revenues across the board, in every community around Louisiana.”
Nungesser says tourism in Louisiana is no longer just New Orleans specific:
“And we’ve seen over the last several years new hotels being built all over Louisiana. So it’s not just New Orleans that is seeing this growth and high occupancy. We’re seeing it all over Louisiana as we promoted Mardi Gras in every city and town that throws a Mardi Gras celebration. We saw visitors from near and far, we saw international visitors going to Shreveport, Morgan City, Houma, Lafayette. Baton Rouge, people from Africa were there. And that’s going to fuel new growth in the tourism industry.”
