Dear Friends of New Orleans & Company,
First, I would like to congratulate Mayor-Elect Helena Moreno and all newly elected and re-elected officials across Greater New Orleans. The team at New Orleans & Company is eager to collaborate with our new leadership to strengthen our beloved city. Together we will support the 80,000 professionals who work in our industry, elevate the hundreds of businesses that are critical to the economy of our city region and state and advance Greater New Orleans as a premier destination to live, learn, work, and visit.
I also am thrilled to share that New Orleans was named as the number two best city in the world in a travel article in UK Newspaper The Telegraph on October 12. The author wrote, “Everywhere should be like New Orleans. But nowhere is. That’s its point.” I love that quote! This type of recognition is due to our PR team and international office partners who work every day to earn positive press. And it is a testament to our incredible hospitality community and the people of New Orleans for welcoming visitors from around the world with open arms.
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 some of the high points of the work our team is doing toward our strategic goals.
Strategic Goal One: Deliver the Most Innovative and Exceptional Sales and Service
- Congrats to our Convention Sales team for booking 1,229,962 hotel room nights through September 30, which is 112 percent of goal. They are working to finish the year strong and achieve an annual goal of 1,560,000 room nights. Over the past several years, their efforts have resulted in confirming over 1,000 meetings into 2025, which helps drive our economy and forms a critical foundational layer of business for the tourism industry.
Strategic Goal Two: Make New Orleans a Great Place to Live, Work and Visit
- For the first time ever, Rockin’1000 - the globally renowned music event that unites 1,000 musicians of all skill levels together for the concert of their lives - is coming to the United States with New Orleans serving as its North American debut destination!
- The concert will be January 31, 2026, at the Caesars Superdome. Created in 2015, Rockin’1000 has an extremely loyal following internationally. We are honored to bring Rockin’1000 to the United States for the first time, and are proud to continue championing music not just as entertainment, but as a vital driver of culture and identity in New Orleans.
- New Orleans & Company will serve as the promoter of the event, a defining moment as we venture into the arena of curating unique content. To get your tickets, or apply to join the band, please visit www.neworleans.com/rockin1000.
Strategic Goal Three: Create and Own a Clear, World-Class Brand for New Orleans
- Earlier this year we partnered with Sojern, a travel marketing platform, to bolster September and fourth quarter overnight visitation. We are building on the success of that partnership to offer a hotel co-op program for the remainder of the year. The program leverages Sojern’s robust partner network to target travel intenders, with New Orleans & Company and Sojern offering a 3:1 investment match for participating properties. Eight hotels signed up at varying levels for the four-month program, and we’ve applied the remaining campaign funds to deliver more exposure and drive more business throughout the city for the fourth quarter.
Strategic Goal Four: Restore International Tourism
- Alice Glenn and Olivia Markase recently returned from a sales/PR mission in Sydney and Melbourne. When the New Orleans Pelicans became the first NBA team to play two exhibition games in Australia, we used it as an opportunity to host key Australian customers and journalists at a once-in-a-lifetime sports event. In addition, our team conducted sales calls, trained travel agents on how to sell New Orlans and exhibited at a tradeshow. The mission was well-received and there is increasing demand from the Australian market for travel to the Southern USA and New Orleans.
We hope you can join us for our upcoming events being planned by our Membership and External Affairs team:
- October 22: Tourism University on OS Benefits
- November 12: Business After Hours at JAMNOLA
- December 4: Hospitality Industry Holiday Party
- December 9: Member Appreciation Holiday Breakfast and Annual Meeting
Thanks for your partnership.
Sincerely,
Walter J. Leger III
President & CEO
New Orleans & Company