New Orleans is emerging from a rough last couple of years. The lockdowns, shutdowns, layoffs, canceled conventions, and sidelined festivals have wreaked havoc with the people, the economy of New Orleans.
Two long years later, New Orleans is trying to roar back to life.
2019 was a big year, one of the biggest, if not the biggest in the history of tourism for the City of New Orleans.
Now in 2022, New Orleans and Company, the convention and tourism arm of the City, is looking to build on the momentum of the first six months of the year to make the next six months just as memorable.
"We're working really hard in marketing and other things to make sure that we continue to attract what we've seen so far in 2022," says Kelly Schulz, the Senior Vice President of Communications for New Orleans and Company.
N.O.&Co. is working to make the second half of 2022 as busy for conventions and tourism as the first.
Schulz says Labor Day is particularly exciting:
"The Allstate Louisiana Kickoff with LSU versus Florida State game is going to be in town," Schulz says. "So, Labor Day will see that huge football game and we'll also see our traditional Southern Decadence Festival."
Just this week, the New Orleans Running of the Bulls will take place Friday.
"We're now going right ahead into Tales of the Cocktail [July 25th-28], celebrating its 20th anniversary. We're gonna have the Satchmo Summerfest return [August 6-7]," Schulz says. "We're gonna work hard in August to promote our restaurants and museums."
Tourism is going strong, and N.O.&Co. is also working at bringing the big money, big crowds conventions back to the Crescent City.
"Conventions are coming back, recently we hosted the American Diabetes Association, the American Association for Cancer Research, The Society for Human Resource Management, those are all conventions that have come in recently," Schulz explains. "And we're working with many other groups to ensure that they are coming to New Orleans."
To sum it up: "The future's so bright, you gotta wear shades!"
