NEW ORLEANS - (July 26, 2017) - New Orleans continues to be recognized as a top culinary destination, most recently being named as one of the Best Food Cities in the World by the prestigious culinary publication, Food & Wine.

The list was produced after extensive research by Food & Wine, which polled more than 50 travel professionals, including top chefs, critics, as well as their own Food & Wine writers, photographers and contributors. The exclusive list featured six international cities including Florence, London, Toronto, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong. New Orleans was in good company as one of only four U.S. cities included: Los Angeles, New York City and Charleston.

"New Orleans is the original home of remarkable culinary traditions... approaches to food emanating from the unique soul which differentiates us and makes us so authentic. This is a place where talented men and women come to explore their own heritage and creativity in kitchens throughout our city and all of us benefit from their originality," said Stephen Perry, President and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The new experimentation and fusions with our historic cuisine by these stunning chefs produces an exciting, contemporary twist on our traditional New Orleans fare and continues to place New Orleans high on these influential lists."

The ranking as one of the Best Food Cities in the World by Food & Wine is New Orleans' most recent accomplishment in a string of accolades including being named the number four city in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure's 2017 World's Best readers survey.

"New Orleans restaurants rightfully deserve to be in this honored group," said Mark Romig, President and CEO of New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. "Our continual ranking as a food city through the years shows that we continue with traditional favorites while introducing cutting edge cuisine that makes a statement worldwide."

More information and the complete list of Food & Wine's Best Food Cities in the World can be found here.

The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau (NOCVB) is a nationally accredited, 1,100-member destination marketing organization and the largest and most successful private economic development corporation in Louisiana. The CVB and its members influence thousands of decision-makers and millions of visitors to choose New Orleans through direct sales, marketing, public relations, branding and visitor services at our New Orleans headquarters and offices in Chicago, Columbia, SC, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Brazil and China. Consistently recognized as one of the top five CVBs in the country, the New Orleans CVB celebrates its 57th anniversary in 2017. For more information, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com; www.facebook.com/neworleans; www.twitter.com/VisitNewOrleans.

The New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation is the City of New Orleans' official leisure travel promotion agency created to foster jobs and economic growth by developing the tourism industry in New Orleans. NOTMC is publicly funded and provides year-round online marketing, advertising, public relations and special event programming in order to support the growth of leisure travel to New Orleans.

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Media Contacts:
Kristian Sonnier, New Orleans CVB, 504-566-5045, ksonnier@neworleanscvb.com
Lea Sinclair, NOTMC, 504-491-5330, lea@notmc.com