Frequently Asked Questions for Visitors to New Orleans
Developed by the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
Revised September 7, 2007
Click to view question/answer:
I have not visited New Orleans in a few years. What can I expect?
All visitors want to know if the authentic New Orleans experience still exists and the answer is a resounding yes! That authentic, sensory New Orleans experience of food, music and culture that people have come to love is alive and thriving. We recently successfully hosted major events such as the ESSENCE Festival—the largest African American festival in the country, Jazz Fest, Mardi Gras and major conventions are happening everyday.
In the next six months, New Orleans will host a series of major city-wide conventions, nationally televised sporting events and world-renown music and cultural festivals.
The damage caused by Hurricane Katrina was in the outlying neighborhoods, miles away from the airport and the historic areas frequented by visitors, such as the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny, Warehouse Arts District, Garden District/Uptown, Audubon and University section, Carrollton and Riverbend and historic Algiers on the city’s west bank. In fact, the historic architecture in the tourist areas is as beautiful as ever. There is no need to wait; the time to visit is now!
I continue to see and read so many negative stories about New Orleans in the national press that it makes me question whether it is ok for me to visit.
Since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has remained under intense media scrutiny, particularly on the outlying neighborhoods that are still rebuilding. These areas are completely unrelated to popular tourist areas and our ability to successfully host major meetings and welcome visitors. It is the role of the media to expose corruption and government failures, but for every negative story, there are dozens of examples of good news stories that show New Orleans also is a place where SOUL PROVED WATERPROOF, a place of hope, resilience and life. To read some of our positive news stories, please visit http://www.neworleanscvb.com/articles/index.cfm/action/articles/typeID/2 .
The reality is that the city is much safer today than it was before Katrina. Extraordinary circumstances can occur in any destination - 100-year storms, tornados, earthquakes, terrorist attacks - but from these tragedies, lessons are learned that ultimately make those areas safer, stronger and better. People should not be hesitant about visiting New Orleans ... in fact, in so many ways, there has never been a better time to choose New Orleans as a place to live, work or visit.
Is New Orleans a safe place for visitors?
Yes. Tourist areas are as safe as those in any big city.
The ratio of police to citizens is actually higher today:
Pre-Katrina Police Force Post Katrina Police Force
Number of Officers – 1,680 Number of Officers – 1,406
Number of Citizens – 455,000 Number of Citizens – 300,000
Ratio Police/Citizens – 1:270 Ratio Police/Citizens – 1:213
So far in 2007, New Orleans has safely hosted more than one million visitors for ESSENCE Festival, Mardi Gras celebrations, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, major sporting events, cultural festivals, and large conventions with tens of thousands of attendees.
Testimonials from leisure visitors and travel industry professionals are available here: www.neworleanscvb.com/static/index.cfm/contentID/752/sectionID/2/subsectionID/752
Testimonials from business travelers and convention visitors are available here: www.neworleanscvb.com/static/index.cfm/contentID/744/sectionID/3/subsectionID/744
New Orleans’ popular tourist areas such as the French Quarter, Downtown/Central Business District, Uptown, Garden District, Magazine Street, Warehouse/Arts District and Convention Center Boulevard continue to maintain a record as one of the safest and most walkable places for visitors of any city in America.
Unfortunately--as in any major city--crime does exist, and in New Orleans, the vast majority of violent crime is criminal-on-criminal acts which occur in areas of the city not frequented by tourists.
The New Orleans Police Department is known nationally for its record in making New Orleans a safe place to visit, ranging from large-scale crowd control events such as Mardi Gras, to four or five individuals enjoying a weekend getaway. Today the citizen-to-police ratio is much higher than it was pre-Katrina and we have backup from a new police recruit class, the National Guard and state police troopers to maintain a visible and serious law-enforcement presence.
As with any destination, we recommend that vacationers and convention attendees practice common sense and stay in well-populated tourist areas when they are here. New Orleans remains a national treasure and we want everyone who visits it to have a safe and enjoyable time.
How has the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau prepared for hurricane season?
The CVB’s New Orleans Tourism Crisis Management Plan, along with diligent and thorough preparation with an emphasis on safety, will assist visitors and community members in responding appropriately to emergencies. The City of New Orleans and State of Louisiana have for the first time implemented a unified emergency communications plan to ensure the timely flow of information across the region in emergency situations. A comprehensive and effective citywide emergency communications plan for the Greater New Orleans tourism industry has been developed.
Can the city house all of the Gathering participants?
Overall, 209 metropolitan area accommodations are open with 31,000 hotel rooms available. Major brand hotels such as Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood have made significant investment in hotel renovations. New Orleans now boasts one of the freshest hotel products of any major city. (source: FAQS for Visitors to New Orleans, August 2007) The Gathering intends to secure all necessary hotels without the need for Gathering shuttling.
Teenagers eat a lot! Are there enough restaurants open to serve them?
Family-owned restaurants are back, and the chefs who made them famous are cooking in the kitchens. There are 836 restaurants open in the metro New Orleans area, a figure that tops pre-storm numbers.(source: State of the City Report, August 2007) Restaurants are staffed and running hours commensurate with tourism levels in the city.
What is the population of New Orleans? Will there be workers to staff the hotels and restaurants?
Yes. Orleans Parish currently has approximately 300,000 residents. Pre-Katrina, this number was 455,000. Post-Katrina, the metropolitan New Orleans area has 1.1 million residents. Pre-Katrina, this number was 1.3 million.
Will it be difficult to get flights to and from New Orleans?
No. The NOMCVB and the Louis Armstrong International Airport continue to work with national airlines to insure that groups with large numbers of arrivals can travel to and from the city in a convenient and timely fashion. Through dialogue with the airlines, additional flights have been added and larger planes have been used when airlift is a concern for a particular event.
Louis Armstrong International Airport, as of September 2007, reports 124 flights serving 37 cities. New service from Southwest Airlines will add 1,000 daily seats (eight daily nonstop roundtrip flights) to New Orleans, beginning November 2007.
How is the Convention Center?
With $62 million in renovations completed, the Morial Convention Center is sporting a brand new look and level of comfort. Renovations include new flooring and furnishings on all three levels, hotel-like finishes, and a brighter, more engaging environment. The same great service and amenities that made the Morial an industry leader are better than ever: 3.1 million total square feet of space; high speed wi-fi, 4,000-seat Conference Auditorium, 12 separate/combinable exhibit halls, 140 meeting rooms and a team of seasoned industry professionals. The Center will do brisk business in 2007---hosting 94 major conventions, tradeshows and meetings.
How’s the Superdome?
The Louisiana Superdome, one of America's most recognizable landmarks, has a spectacular schedule of big-time football this fall. With national television cameras focusing on many events, the Superdome has helped deliver the message the New Orleans is back as one of the nation’s greatest sports cities.
The Superdome will be the site of the Allstate BCS National Championship Game-college football's national championship-on Monday, January 7, 2008. That will make New Orleans the first city to host three major college post-season games after the same season. The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl will be in the Dome on Friday, December 21, 2007, and the Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic will be played Tuesday, January 1.
At the neighboring New Orleans Arena, the New Orleans Hornets will return full-time for the 2007-2008 season, and the Arena will be the site of the NBA All-Star Game Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008. The New Orleans Arena sustained less damage from Katrina and reopened in March 2006.
What convention groups has New Orleans recently hosted?
Convention and meetings business has returned to New Orleans, building upon the successful city-wide meeting of the 17,000 members of the American Library Association in June 2006, the first since Hurricane Katrina. Highlights include:
• The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) met in New Orleans April 29-May 3 for its 45th Annual Conference & Exhibition with nearly 10,000 people. RIMS’ meeting was the third major city-wide to gather in New Orleans in 2007. Highlights of the conference included a community service day where hundreds of RIMS volunteers spent an afternoon cleaning City Park.
• The American College of Cardiology met in New Orleans March 24-27 for its 56th Annual Scientific Session and i2 Summit. With 30,000 attendees, the meeting was New Orleans’ largest since 2005. The conference received rave reviews from ACC leadership and members.
• The largest convention in New Orleans of 2006 was the National Association of Realtors, November 8-13. The final count was 23,560 ... a 17 percent increase over the same event in New Orleans in 2002. NAR also had a record number of exhibiting companies: 651.
• A full convention calendar for the fall of 2006 included the American Society of Exploration Geophysicists (7,000), American Society of Human Genetics (5,200), American Society for Reproductive Medicine (6,000), Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology (5,500) and Avaya, a Fortune 500 company with 3,800 delegates.
What groups are holding meetings in New Orleans in 2007?
Future meetings (3,000 or more in attendance) in 2007 include:
Event/Date/Projected Attendance
American College of Surgeons/Oct. 6-10 (city-wide)/16,000
International Association of Chiefs of Police/Oct. 12-17 (city-wide)/10,000
International Facility Management Association/Oct. 23-26 (city-wide)/10,000
Helen Brett Enterprises/Oct. 25-Nov. 1/15,000
Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International/Oct. 30-Nov. 2/3,000
American Society of Agronomy/Nov. 4-8/4,800
American Academy of Ophthalmology/Nov. 9-12 (city-wide)/25,000
National League of Cities/Nov. 13-17 (city-wide)/8,000
Diversified Business Communications/Nov. 27-30 (city-wide)/11,000
Southern Association of Colleges & Schools/Dec. 8-10/ 3,000
Pennwell Corporation/Dec. 10-14 (city-wide)/17,000
