Dear Friends of New Orleans & Company,

Congratulations! Mardi Gras 2026 was a resounding success, marked by huge joyful crowds; beautiful weather; and strong regional visitation as well as guests from around the nation and the world. We delivered a safe and secure environment thanks to the great work of our sanitation workers, local law enforcement and seamless collaboration among city, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

New Orleans & Company data reveals more than 2.2. million visits over Mardi Gras. Of those,1.2 million out-of-town guests visited New Orleans between February 12 – 17, 2026, which is a 20 percent increase over the same time period for Mardi Gras 2025. We were pleased to see that 40 percent of those visitors came from more than 250 miles away. Regional travelers are a critical audience for us. While we are awaiting final occupancy data, we anticipate hotel occupancy will be in the mid-to-high 90 percent range. Local restaurants, attractions and bars reported strong activity.

Mardi Gras may be over but your team at New Orleans & Company is forging ahead and continuing the momentum:

  • On Ash Wednesday, we started welcoming 20,000 people for the Music City Volleyball Championship, a Girls USA Volleyball Junior National Qualifier. The 2026 championship marked the third consecutive year New Orleans hosted the event, welcoming more than 815 teams representing 283 clubs nationwide. In total, the tournament brought an estimated 9,000 athletes and an additional 15,000 spectators to the city. It has nearly tripled in size since its inception, with New Orleans & Company playing a key role in accelerating that momentum, reinforcing the city as a family-friendly destination for large-scale athletic competitions and youth-sporting events.
  • On February 19, we held the inaugural Maestri Classic, a four-day college baseball tournament hosted by the University of New Orleans (UNO) at Maestri Field. New Orleans & Company and a number of community partners came together to execute an unforgettable opening ceremony with our Miracle League athletes playing alongside their college baseball buddies from UNO and Alabama A&M.
  • Next, we announced that we will host top chefs, restaurateurs and industry leaders from across North America for the second edition of North America's 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. 50 Best will bring a series of exciting culinary events to New Orleans in May 2026, culminating in the announcement of the highly anticipated list at the awards ceremony on May 28.
  • Next week, we will welcome 18,000 medical professionals for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. This is one of several significant medical meetings secured by our Convention Sales team for 2026, reinforcing that New Orleans is Built to Host.

Everything we do at New Orleans & Company is designed to inspire, promote and encourage travel to our city for the economic, social and community benefit of New Orleans and its people. Below are a few highlights of our work toward achieving our strategic goals.

Strategic Goal One: Deliver the Most Innovative and Exceptional Sales and Service

  • Meetings and conventions make up the foundation of New Orleans’s visitor economy, but competition is growing daily. That is the topic of a recent Biz New Orleans article featuring New Orleans & Company SVP of Convention Sales and Strategies Stephanie Turner. In the cover story, Stephanie shares what it takes to keep the big wins coming, what she sees for the future of the industry, and how a Built to Host philosophy is helping the city secure convention bookings decades into the future.

Strategic Goal Two: Make New Orleans a Great Place to Live, Work and Visit

  • Now in its fourth year, RecycleDAT is a joint program by New Orleans & Company, Grounds Krewe, Glass Half Full and several other local organizations to make Mardi Gras more sustainable. This year’s initiative would not be possible without Entergy Corporation and Dr. Pepper. Final numbers are being compiled, but with over 40,000 pounds of parade waste already recycled, we are on track to surpass 2025 results.
  • In 2025, the Recycle Dat! initiative successfully diverted 73,858 total pounds away from landfills. This total includes 3,828 pounds of aluminum, which is roughly 100,000 cans; 905 pounds of plastic bottles, which is roughly 23,490 bottles; 46,321 pounds of glass; and 22,803 pounds of Mardi Gras beads and throws.

Strategic Goal Three: Create and Own a Clear, World-Class Brand for New Orleans

  • Throughout the Carnival season, we hosted journalists, elected officials, influencers and customers to experience Mardi Gras up close, so they could share the excitement, traditions and energy of the city with their VIP stakeholders. A Mardi Gras Day satellite media tour live from the parade route reached approximately six million viewers in 30 cities to encourage them to plan trips to New Orleans for spring festival season and beyond.

Strategic Goal Four: Build International Tourism

  • Our Tourism Sales team represented New Orleans at the International Inbound Tour Association’s (IITA)annual summit in New York, and conducted more than 30 one-on-one business appointments. IITA is a nonprofit trade organization for international inbound travel to the USA, devoted to US inbound industry through the travel trade. In partnership with Rhythms of the South partners in Atlanta and Nashville, we hosted a breakfast for tour operators at IITA to showcase the best of our region.

Thank you for your continued partnership in helping us make New Orleans the most remarkable, unique and welcoming city in the world. We will be in touch soon with a major announcement about another prestigious global event coming to New Orleans.

In the meantime, I look forward to seeing many of you at Coffee & Conversations with special guest Mayor Helena Moreno on Thursday, February 26, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at the National World War II Museum. Registration is available here and there are a few seats remaining for members only.