Business Corner
Tourism
Travel Weekly Forum- New Orleans, LA- May 21
Ten years ago, the editor and publisher of Travel Weekly played a big role in helping to spread the good news that New Orleans was ready for business. Since then, they have remained excellent partners. The CVB worked with them, once again, to build an incredible opportunity for our members. The Travel Weekly Leadership Forum took place May 21, drawing more than 165 attendees. Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Lines and Douglas Quinby, Vice President of Research for Phocuswright were two of many national speakers who shared their expertise with our membership.
Tim Zagat, Co-Founder of Zagat, speaking at the Travel Weekly Forum.
Milan Expo and Jazz Ascona- Milan, Italy ans Ascona, Switzerland- June
Two special projects took place in June. Brand USA, the state of Louisiana and the New Orleans CVB partnered on a three-week promotion within the USA pavilion at the Milan Expo. Louisiana sponsored John Besh to represent the state at the expo planning numerous appearances. Kyle Edmiston with the Louisiana Office of Tourism and Kim Priez, Vice President of Tourism with the New Orleans CVB, took full advantage of Chef Besh's participation. A media luncheon and a trade event at the Italian Ambassador's home in Milan were planned to showcase Louisiana to our top customers.
The New Orleans CVB has been a key sponsor of the Jazz Ascona Festival in Switzerland for many years. A little over an hour drive from Milan, this festival draws visitors from throughout Europe. More than 30 New Orleans musicians were featured in the Jazz Festival, making it a focal point for the entertainment. Chef Brian Landry and Chef Vu Vo from Restaurant Borgne joined to assist the festival and restaurant owners to prepare their "first ever" street food. The recipes were a huge success.
Convention Sales and Services
NOLA Now Executive Invitational- Chicago, IL- May 12- 13
We continued our Leadership roadshow in Chicago and were joined by our partners at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and GNO Inc. The message focused on the progress and current positive state of our business capability In New Orleans.
In November of 2015, we will host one last NOLA Now event in-market. Details are in progress and for 2016, we will revisit how best to share our message with different leadership audiences in order to reach the optimal level of executive attendee.
National Customer Advisory Council- New Orleans, LA- June 7- 9
In early June, our team hosted a very successful group of clients, including many new high profile advisory board members from organizations that are entirely new to the market, re-activation clients and some emerging markets for New Orleans such as the independent tradeshow organizers.
We presented the preliminary K10 materials for client feedback on some of the planned media activities and will be preparing sales related resources to assist all of our teams in-market handle client questions accurately and consistently.
On the second day, we were pleased to sponsor GNO Inc's TedX event, which was met with extraordinary support and enthusiasm from our clients.
Public Relations
PRSA Travel and Tourism Conference- Lexington, KY- June 14-17
Tara Letort, CMP, and Lauren Cason attended the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Travel & Tourism conference in Lexington, KY, June 14-17 and were able to network and share best practices with more than 350 PR counterparts and colleagues from CVBs, agencies and attractions in the tourism and hospitality industry around the country. New Orleans is currently bidding on hosting this premier professional development conference in 2018, which brings in top-tier national travel media and generates nearly $450 thousand in economic impact for the city.
Copa Airlines Inaugural Flight Press Trip- New Orleans, LA- June 2015
The CVB PR and Tourism teams worked with Copa Airlines to bring 15 prominent journalists from Panama, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Honduras to New Orleans on the inaugural flight from Panama at the end of June. Their itinerary included four days of sightseeing, wonderful meals, shopping and music. The media were a combination of magazines, newspapers and television. We've already begun to see TV coverage and expect great results to promote New Orleans as a wonderful destination with a new convenient flight to these key markets.
Recent Coverage- 2015
New Orleans has been rated the No. 2 city in the U.S. and Canada, according to the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2015 readers' survey. This is the second consecutive year that New Orleans has ranked No.2. among cities in the U.S. and Canada. Charleston is the top-rated city in the U.S. and Canada for the third consecutive year.
New Orleans has also been recognized as one of the "Friendliest Cities in America" by readers of Travel + Leisure as well as one of the "Most Affordable Cities for a Summer Escape" by TripAdvisor.com. The CVB PR team has generated positive stories for the destination, including features in Quantas magazine, Frequent Business Traveler and Agent @ Home magazine as well as lifestyle websites like Refinery29.com.
External Affairs
Business After Hours- World War II Museum- April 15
The Membership department held Business After Hours at The National WWII Museum in April. More than 200 attendees gathered in the Boeing Center and enjoyed special tours of the museum's newest exhibit--Campaigns of Courage: The Road to Berlin. Catering was provided by Centerplate.
CVB staff and members enjoying Business After Hours at the WWII Museum.
National Tourism and Travel Week- New Orleans, LA- May 2-10
National Tourism Week was May 2 -10 and as always, we celebrated in style! On Monday, May 3, we held the annual Travel Rally at House of Blues. Food, music and Mardi Gras Indians entertained the crowd. From there, guests walked over to the Sheraton Hotel for the Business Expo and Luncheon. Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne was our keynote speaker and Camille Whitworth was our emcee.
On Tuesday, we partnered with the Greater New Orleans Foundation to support GiveNOLA Day and encouraged folks to give to our non-profit members. That evening, members were invited to a complimentary viewing of the KONGO Across the Waters exhibit at NOMA. On Wednesday, we hosted a hospitality tent at Lafayette Square. Thursday, we wrapped up our celebrations with a hospitality tent in Armstrong Park. What a great week!
Tourism University- New Orleans, LA- June 23
The Membership department held a Tourism University on June 23 and Paula Keller with Search Influence was our speaker. She talked with 45 attendees about Online Marketing in NOLA: Turning Visitors Into Customers.
The latest Tourism University was held July 15 with Carrie Koenig of Miles Media speaking on The State of the American? Traveler Creating & Tracking Effective Advertising. The 42 members in attendance learned about Travel Trends and how American travelers are navigating the fractured media landscape when researching and booking travel as well as tourism marketing essentials.
Executive Office
CityBusiness Driving Forces Award- New Orleans, LA- March 23
CityBusiness celebrated 35 years of publishing award-winning, in-depth local business news and to mark the anniversary, they honored 35 business leaders who have made significant contributions to our community in the past 10 years.
Our leader and CEO, Stephen Perry, was honored for his superb job of rebuilding the tourism industry in New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans Day- Baton Rouge, LA- April 29
Each year, the Mayor of New Orleans, City Council and New Orleans legislative delegation hosted New Orleans Day at the State Capitol. Business and community leaders from the city are invited to spend the day at the capitol visiting with legislators. The day culminated with a New Orleans Day party. This year, the party was held at the Louisiana State Museum, located across the street from the capitol.
Human Rights Campaign Gala- New Orleans, LA- June 13
The New Orleans CVB was selected as the winner of the 2015 HRC Louisiana Gala Community Leader's Award!
Under Stephen's leadership, our organization was recognized as a leader in rebuilding tourism in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, during the BP oil spill and most recently as the industry stood shoulder to shoulder in the fight against the House Bill 707.
