Top Designations from TravelWeekly, TripAdvisor, Southern Living, Expedia, Fox Sports and More
The city of New Orleans and New Orleans & Company (formerly the New Orleans CVB) have been recognized nationally for excellence. View a list of city accolades and New Orleans & Company awards below.
USA Today 10Best recently announced the winners of several reader chosen awards. The New Orleans Museum of Art was ranked 10th best in the country and the Sydney and Walda Bestoff Sculpture Garden at City Park was selected as the 9th best in the nation. Also, when it comes to Best Immersive Art Experiences JAMNOLA was voted 5th best in the U.S.
On January 6, 2026, the Louisiana Children’s Museum was named one of the Top 9 Children’s Museums in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure, 9 Best Children's Museums in the U.S.
In partnership with Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities announced that the Historic New Orleans Collection’s “Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration” exhibition has been selected as the 2026 Museum Exhibition of the Year.
It was announced in January 2026 that the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport received the Airports Council International North America 2025 Excellence in Airport Marketing, Communications and Customer Experience Awards for its music program. Through the airport’s Music @ MSY Residency Program, the airport and music community representatives select a rotating lineup of local musical acts to perform on peak travel days and on stages throughout the terminal.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been named one of the Top 10 Music Festivals across the US, earning the No. 7 spot in the USA TODAY 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards.
The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was named Best Airport in North America for the fifth consecutive year by Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality Awards and was inducted into the ACI World Director General’s Roll of Excellence
New Orleans was also named one of the 10 Safest Destinations in the U.S. for Women Traveling Solo, according to OnlyInYourState.com. The recognition highlights the city’s welcoming atmosphere and ease of exploration, noting its compact, walkable neighborhoods and abundance of hidden gems for visitors to discover. To view the full press release, click here.
New Orleans & Company Awards and Honors:
New Orleans CityBusiness named Walt Leger III among its 2026 Most Admired C-Suite Executives, recognizing top regional leaders for excellence in leadership, vision and community impact.
Stephanie Turner was named a 2026 Smart Woman in Meetings Hall of Fame inductee by SmartMeetings, recognizing outstanding leadership and impact in the meetings and event industry.
New Orleans & Company’s “How Glad I Am” destination video earned multiple honors at the American Advertising Federation (AAF) ADDY Awards:
American Advertising Federation New Orleans (Local Level): Silver ADDY – Film, Video & Sound (Sales Promotion – Audio/Visual Sales Presentation)
American Advertising Federation District 7: Gold ADDY
American Advertising Federation District 7: Judges Choice Award, recognizing top creative work across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Time Out Magazine named New Orleans as the world’s best city for food in 2025. New Orleans not only topped the list, but was the only U.S. city to make the list.
Neal Bodenheimer’s Cure has secured the 50th spot on North America's 50 Best Bars list. This marks Cure's third consecutive year earning a place on this celebrated list--a testament to its continued excellence, impact and staying power, as the bar just celebrated its sixteenth anniversary in February. Cure also recently was named as the “Best Bar in the U.S.” by Food & Wine Magazine as part of its 2025 Global Tastemakers awards.
Time out Magazine named New Orleans as one of the Best Cities in the World for 2025. New Orleans Came in Number 6, ranked only behind London, Melbourne, New York, Bangkok and Cape Town.
Forbes Magazine named New Orleans one of its top 12 destinations for 2025. Besides the Super Bowl, the opening of Caesars Hotel, The Four Seasons Hotel and the recently renovated Hotel Monteleone and the Ritz Carlton New Orleans celebrating its 25th anniversary were standouts that put New Orleans on the list. New restaurants including Acamaya, Dakar Nola and Emeril Lagasse’s 34 Restaurant and Bar were also listed as must visit places.
Northstar Stella Awards named New Orleans & Company Best CVB/DMO in the Southeast
Smart Meetings Magazine honored New Orleans & Company as one of the Best Cosmopolitan CVB/DMOs in the Country in its 2025 Smart Stars Awards
Smart Meetings Magazine named New Orleans & Company a 2025 Platinum Choice Award winner, recognizing excellence in service and destination leadership
Travel Weekly Magellan Awards recognized New Orleans & Company for excellence in Destination Marketing, Advertising and Communications and as a Culinary Destination
Prevue Magazine honored New Orleans & Company as a 2025 Prevue Visionary Award winner for innovation and leadership in the meetings and incentives industry
Meetings Today Best of Awards recognized New Orleans & Company by its meeting planner audience
Convention South Magazine awarded New Orleans & Company its Readers’ Choice Award
New Orleans City Business honored Walt Leger III as a 2025 Icon Award Honoree
Newsweek recognized Walt Leger III, President & CEO, among New Destinations: Global Travel and Tourism Leaders – 2025
Meetings Today named Walt Leger III a 2025 Trendsetter for his leadership in destination crisis management
Biz New Orleans recognized Walt Leger III in its Biz 500: Influential Leaders list
New Orleans City Business named Stephanie Turner, SVP of Convention Sales & Strategies, one of the Women Who Lead – New Orleans for 2025
Smart Meetings Magazine recognized Stephanie Turner as a Visionary in its 2025 Women in Meetings Awards
New Orleans City Business included New Orleans & Company leadership among the Power 50: Most Influential People – 2025.
Association Conventions & Facilities magazine awarded New Orleans & Company the Distinctive Achievement Award for outstanding service to association meetings and convention planners - 2025
Corporate & Incentive Travel magazine honored New Orleans & Company for outstanding service to the meetings and incentive travel industry - 2025
2024 DESTINATION AWARDS AND HONORS
A new “Top 250” study found that 88 percent of the top 250 conventions in the country will meet in only 20 cities and New Orleans tops the list at number three above top-tier convention destinations. New Orleans’ high ranking reinforces that customers appreciate New Orleans’ walkability, compact geographic footprint, world-class venues, unmatched culture and hospitality expertise. More Information Here.
Prevue Magazine Visionary Awards - New Orleans & Company won a Gold Award for Best CVB/DMO Meeting & Incentive Planner Support by region (SE USA) and a Silver Award for best U.S. Destination for Meetings & Conventions (Small - under 500,000 population)
Corporate & Incentive Travel Magazine picked New Orleans & Company for its Award of Excellence. 2024
New Orleans ranked "The Most Walkable City in the US" by AllClear, August 2024
New Orleans & Company wins the Silver Awards for both Best Domestic Destination and Best Domestict Culinary Destination at the annual Travvy Awards, 2024
"I can't remember enjoying eating anywhere in the USA as much as in New Orleans" - The Most Fun City In All Of America, According To Travel Expert Rick Steves, www.explore.com, 2024
New Orleans named Best Food Destination in the US (for the second year in a row) in the 2024 Travelers' Choice Awards, TripAdvisor, 2024
New Orleans named in Time Out's Best Cities in the World To Visit in 2024, Time Out, January 2024
New Orleans & Company was honored as one of the “Best Places to Work” by New Orleans CityBusiness. The comprehensive employee survey assesses various aspects of a company's workplace culture, including employee engagement, leadership, work-life balance, career development opportunities, communication, and overall satisfaction with their job and company, 2024
New Orleans & Company was named a "Great Place to Work" in the 2024 Times-Picayune’ s Top Workplaces. The competition identifies stellar companies with a people-first culture, based on independent, anonymous surveys of employees. 2024
2023 DESTINATION AWARDS AND HONORS
New Orleans & Company won two 2023 Prevue Visionary Awards from Prevue Meetings+Incentives. New Orleans was named Best U.S. Destination for Meeting & Conventions – Small (under 500,000 populations) and New Orleans & Company was named Best CVB/DMO meeting and incentive planner support by region – Southeast.
New Orleans has been named a 2024 Good Housekeeping Family Travel Awards winner.
New Orleans is a 2023 Gold Winner in "Best U.S. Destination for Meetings & Conventions - Small (under 500,000 population), and New Orleans & Company is a 2023 Gold Winner in "Best CVB/DMO meeting & incentive planner support by region - Southeast", Prevue Visionary Awards, 2023
New Orleans won three awards at the 9th annual TravelPulse #TravvyAwards in November. Thousands of votes were cast in more than 140 categories by readers of AGENTatHOME and TravelPulse.com. The awards include:
Gold Best culinary destination- US
Silver: Best tourism board- US
Bronze: Best city destination- domestic
New Orleans & Company won a Recommend’s Readers' Choice Award for Best Destination – Culinary
New Orleans' Mid-City neighborhood named #7 on the list of "The 40 Coolest Neighborhoods In The World", Time Out, 2023.
New Orleans & Company awarded Best South CVB/DMO by Meetings Today, September 2023
New Orleans voted as a Smart Star for Best DMO/CVB by Smart Meetings (2023 Smart Stars Winners) for 2023.
New Orleans named top U.S. City for Neighborhood Restaurants by Food & Wine Global Tastemakers for 2023.
New Orleans named the #1 Best of the Best - Best Food Destination in the US (and #9 in the World) in the 2023 Travelers' Choice Awards, TripAdvisor, 2023
AFAR Magazine named New Orleans one of the 10 best places in the world to travel in April, because of Jazz Fest. New Orleans was one of only two U.S. cities recommended, along with international destinations Rome, Jordan, Spain, Iceland and French Polynesia.
New Orleans & Company, in partnership with Dentsu Creative, was awarded a Gold Addy for Best of Show - Mosaic at the American Advertising Federation’s 2023 American Advertising Awards for its Plus One campaign. The Mosaic award speaks to the diversity and inclusion that was an integral part of the campaign. The Plus One campaign also has a cutting edge long-form virtual reality (VR) version, marking the first time a destination marketing organization has used VR. Plus One tells the story of New Orleans’ unique creativity through its people.
New Orleans is featured in Southern Living’s Best of the South issue in April 2023. The seventh annual awards recognize readers' favorite Southern destinations, hotels, restaurants and more. The cover story features Hoda Kotb and why she loves New Orleans and wants her daughters to love New Orleans as well. Also honored:
Commander’s Palace – Best Locally Owned Restaurant in Louisiana
The Chandelier Bar at the Four Seasons – Best New Hotel Bar in New Orleans
The Joint – Best BBQ in Louisiana
Hotel Monteleone – Top 10 of the South’s Best Hotels
Parkway Bakery & Tavern - The Best PoBoys In New Orleans
The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) received a top industry award for Best Airport in North America (5 to 15 million passengers per year) from the Airports Council International (ACI) World’s 2022 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) program. The ASQ awards highlight the world’s best airports as judged by their customers who are surveyed while they are in the airport. This is the second year in a row that MSY was awarded Best Airport in North America. MSY is one of only three airports in North America to win Best Airport recognition among those serving 5 to 15 million passengers per year.
2022 DESTINATION AWARDS AND HONORS
New Orleans & Company wins Best CVB / DMO, as named in Smart Meetings' Smart Stars 2022, SmartMeetings, 2022
New Orleans listed as the #2 Top Destination for Food Lovers - United States by TripAdvisor, 2022.
New Orleans is a 2022 Gold Winner of Most Desirable City - Rest Of World by Wanderlust Travel Awards, 2022
New Orleans & Company won the C&IT Award of Excellence, selected by their meeting planner subscribers who voted by ballot for Convention & Visitors Bureaus that best served their corporate meeting needs, Corporate & Incentive Travel Award of Excellence, 2022
New Orleans won Silver in the category "Best U.S. Destination for Incentive", Prevue Meetings' Visionary Awards, November 2022
New Orleans & Company chosen by the readers of Meetings Today as one of the best DMOs in the South, Meetings Today, October 2022
New Orleans & Company, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Hilton New Orleans Riverside, and Sheraton New Orleans Hotel were all bestowed the Distinctive Achievement Award for 2022 in their respective categories by themeetingmagazines.com, September 2022
New Orleans is #2 on the Top 10 U.S. Cities list, Travel + Leisure, August 2022
New Orleans is #7 on the Top 50 U.S. Destinations list, Conference Direct Meeting Mentor Magazine, Spring 2022
New Orleans is the #3 destination in the U.S. for City Lovers, Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice, 2022
New Orleans named the #2 happiest travel destination in North America, Club Med, 2022
2020/2021 DESTINATION AWARDS AND HONORS
New Orleans & Company won 3 Travel Weekly Travvy Awards for U.S. Tourism Board Providing the Best Travel Advisor Support (Silver), Best Culinary Destination: North America (Gold) and Best Luxury Destination: North America (Bronze), November 2021.
New Orleans was named the No. 4 spot of the "Top 15 Cities in the United States" by Travel + Leisure, September 2021
New Orleans was named the No. 4 most popular place to vacation in America by Newsweek, September 2021
New Orleans made Time's list of World's Greatest Places 2021, Time, July 2021
New Orleans was named 2021's 3rd best summer travel destination by personal finance outlet WalletHub, May 2021.
New Orleans was named the No.4 popular destination in the United States on the TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards, January 2021.
AFAR included New Orleans as one of three US destinations "Where We'll Go in 2021", December 2020.
New Orleans & Company was recognized as a Platinum Choice Winner by Smart Meetings Magazine, December 2020.
New Orleans & Company was awarded The Knot Best of Weddings 2021, November 2020.
New Orleans & Company was selected as a 2020 Award of Excellence Winner from Corporate & Incentive Travel Magazine, July 2020.
Travel + Leisure named New Orleans the No.2 City in the United States in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2020.
New Orleans was named the "South's Best Food City" by Southern Living, March 2020.
New Orleans won a Gold Travvy Award for "Best Culinary Destination in the USA", February 2020.
New Orleans & Company won a Silver Travvy Award for "Best Tourist Board in the USA", February 2020.
New Orleans & Company won Gold in the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Adrian Awards for the Tricentennial campaign 'The Big Easy Turns 300', January 2020.
2019 DESTINATION AWARDS AND HONORS
Forbes included New Orleans as one of the "25 Best Places to Visit in 2020", December 2019.
Conde Nast Traveler named New Orleans one of “the Best Places to Spend Christmas in the U.S.”, December 2019.
New Orleans was named one of Insider’s “20 Most Festive Places to Spend the Holidays in the U.S.”, November 2019.
Fodor’s included New Orleans in its list of “The Most Romantic U.S. Destinations to Spend the Holiday Season”
New Orleans was named the fourth best large city by Conde Nast Traveler's 2019 Readers' Choice Awards.
New Orleans was included on Newsweek’s “Best Christmas Vacations 2019: 10 Top Picks For Beach Escapes, City Breaks, Romantic Getaways”
TripAdvisor® named New Orleans a “Most Excellent City Overall”, October 2019.
Travel + Leisure named New Orleans the No.3 City in the United States in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2019.
TimeOut named New Orleans the No. 2 best city to visit in the United States in 2019.
Southern Living named New Orleans the No.3 city in "The South's Best Cities 2019" and the No.2 city in "The South's Best Food Cities 2019", March 2019.
AFAR featured New Orleans on their "Where To Go In 2019" list, January 2019.
Smarter Travel named New Orleans one of "The 10 Best U.S. Cities to Visit in 2019", December 2018.
Forbes included New Orleans on their list of "The 38 Cheapest Places To Travel In 2019", December 2018.
Business Insider featured New Orleans on their list of "The 3 best places to travel every month of 2019", December 2018.
Fodor's included New Orleans on their "Fodor's Go List 2019", November 2018.
Southern Living named New Orleans the No.3 city in "The South's Best Cities 2019" and the No.2 city in "The South's Best Food Cities 2019"
New Orleans was named the #3 Top Destination for City Lovers in the United States in 2022.
Tripadvisor, Travelers' Choice - Best of the Best, 2022.
