NEW ORLEANS, La.
In 2016, visitors to New Orleans spent $7.41 billion dollars, a 5.1 percent increase compared to the visitor spending record set in 2015, and the city hosted a record-breaking 10.45 million visitors.
The 2016 New Orleans Area Visitor Profile study, completed by the University of New Orleans (UNO) Hospitality Research Center for the New Orleans CVB and New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation (NOTMC) showed consecutive increases in both visitation and visitor spending since 2009.
“The results of last year’s survey demonstrate that we are not just continuing the visitation and visitor spending growth we have delivered over the past seven years, but we have now posted historic highs in both categories,” said Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans CVB. “These achievements are the result of a strategy that attracts a combination of carefully targeted convention business and leisure travelers through tactics which leverage paid media, earned public relations exposure and special events to market New Orleans to the world. As the state continues to grapple with budget deficits, the New Orleans tourism industry grows ever stronger, adding to our economy much needed jobs and tax revenues.”
An example of the New Orleans CVB’s strategy to attract quality visitors and to continue to grow as an international destination in 2016 include the announcements of two direct flights from Europe to New Orleans beginning in 2017. Condor Airlines will begin a seasonal direct flight from Frankfurt, Germany to New Orleans and British Airways will begin a direct flight from London to New Orleans in 2017. Each of these flights will connect New Orleans to more than 120 destinations in Europe and beyond.
In 2004, New Orleans welcomed 10.1 million visitors, who spent $4.9 billion while in the city. In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, visitation dropped to 3.7 million, with $2.9 billion in visitor spending. Due to the efforts of the New Orleans CVB and NOTMC, visitor numbers and spending have steadily increased since Katrina, and the total number of visitors in 2016 surpassed the record visitation numbers set in 2004.
The 2016 UNO research showed that overnight visitors to the New Orleans area who stayed in hotels spent an average of $1,033 per person, per trip in 2016. Visitors stayed for an average of 4.0 nights.
