NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans hosted 4.9 million visitors in the first half of 2012, an increase of two percent over the same period in 2011. These visitors spent a total of $3.45 billion, a boost of 11 percent over January – June 2011. These figures are the result of the 2012 University of New Orleans (UNO) Hospitality Research Center's 2012 New Orleans Area Visitor Profile, commissioned by the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOCVB) and the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation (NOTMC).
Of the 4.9 million visitors to date, 74.1 percent were visiting New Orleans for vacation/pleasure, 14.3 percent attended conventions, associations, corporate meetings and/or trade shows, and 11.7 percent were in New Orleans for general business. Of all visitors, 50 percent stayed in a hotel, while 26.6 percent were visiting friends and relatives. The average number of nights stayed by visitors was 4.1 nights and more than half of business visitors to the New Orleans area (60 percent) extended their stay for pleasure for an average 2.1 days.
Tourism is one of New Orleans' largest employers. According to UNO's research for the full year 2011, New Orleans welcomed 8.75 million visitors, and visitor spending hit $5.47 billion, a significant increase over 2010 and the highest spending in the city’s history.
The New Orleans CVB is hopeful that the upward trends will continue; “In an industry driven by perception and image, momentum matters,” said Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans CVB. The strong visitor numbers coincide with travelers selecting New Orleans for prominent awards.
Following Louisiana, most visitors came from Texas (9.5 percent), Alabama (5.6 percent), California (5.5 percent) and Florida (5.3 percent). At 2012’s half year mark, 91.4 percent of survey respondents reported that they were very likely or likely to recommend New Orleans as a destination to their friends and family. Almost half (44.2 percent) of the respondents reported that this was their first visit to New Orleans.
For more information, visit www.neworleanscvb.com.
