Louisiana
expects to attract around 25 million visitors to its bicentennial events,
helping to showcase its other unique attractions and generating a welcome
£5 billion-plus for its coffers
merica
has long been a popular destination for British holidaymakers. This
year, however, there is a unique opportunity to discover how a key event
200 years ago set the scene for the fledgling country to move onto the
world stage by doubling its size at a stroke.
The
territory – 828,000 square miles stretching from the Great Lakes
to the mouth of the Mississippi River – was claimed in 1682 by
Louis XIV of France, hence its name. Then, in 1803, Louisiana was purchased
from Napoleon I by the US for £6 million. The territory would
later be carved into 13 states or parts of states.
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Phillip Jones
‘We
are focusing on the visitor who is looking for a cultural
experience’
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Now,
the state of Louisiana is pulling out all the stops to mark the 200th
anniversary of the deal between Napoleon I and President Thomas Jefferson.
Thousands of events have been planned, filling the year with festivals,
exhibitions and cultural and culinary delights.
Around
100,000 Britons visit Louisiana annually and this year Phillip
Jones, Secretary of the State Department of Culture,
Recreation and Tourism, is hoping for many more.
“We are committed to showcasing the entire state, and not just
New Orleans,” he says. “Many people do not know much about
the unique Cajun culture of Lafayette, for example.
“Our
goal is for 2003 to be the single best year ever for Louisiana tourism.
We expect around 25 million visitors, generating around £5.7 billion
for the state economy. We are showcasing the role that Louisiana played
in the making of America through the Louisiana Purchase, and how that
effectively transformed world history, making the US a world power overnight.”
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| Tourist
honeypot: visitors love the restaurants, the hot jazz, the slow
pace and the party vibe |
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Most
visitors to Louisiana are, of course, Americans. But about 14 per cent
arrive from abroad, with British visitors topping the league of European
tourists.
“The UK has been one of our strongest markets internationally;
it has even surpassed France. This is partly because the British economy
has been so strong, and partly because of our many cultural and political
affinities,” says Mr Jones.
His
department has long had offices in Britain, France and Germany. In the
past seven years, it has also opened offices in Mexico, Spain, Italy,
Brazil, Central America and Canada, attracting a new wave of visitors.
Mr
Jones is keen to gain more direct international flights to Louis Armstrong
New Orleans International Airport. Currently, the majority of visitors
who fly there have to travel through one of the US hub airports, such
as Dallas, Atlanta or Houston.
“We’re looking forward to creating new routes,” he says.
“New Orleans is the tourist centre of the South, yet visitors still
have to travel via the hubs. With 100,000 plus UK visitors a year, there’s
enough traffic to warrant direct services.”
The
department is targeting British visitors who have probably already visited
the US. “We are focusing on the upmarket visitor who has already
been to Florida or California and who is looking for a cultural experience.”
says Mr Jones.
“We wish to attract better-educated, better-travelled and better-paid
visitors who will stay longer to experience Louisiana as completely
as possible. Louisiana is quite unlike any other state because of our
food, music, architecture, history and cultural diversity.”
New
Orleans, with its jazz, French colonial architecture, wonderful restaurants
and top-class hotels is one of the most-visited cities in the US. And
unlike many of America’s big cities, it is one of the most appealing
to walk around.
The
city was founded in 1718 and named after Phillippe, Duke of Orleans.
The St Louis Cathedral, the oldest in the the country, was built in
the same year. The city is also home to the famous Mardi Gras festival,
first celebrated in 1838.
While New Orleans is the main draw for visitors, every one of Louisiana’s
64 parishes has been given funds to celebrate the bicentennial. There
are more than 600 festivals planned, all of which are family-oriented.
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Stephen Perry
‘We’ve
invested heavily and have gone from brain drain to brain
gain’
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Stephen
Perry, President of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention
& Visitors Bureau and former Chief of Staff to Governor Foster,
says: “We want to promote New Orleans as a business environment
as well as a hospitality destination. We are already the leading place
in the world for medical conventions.”
Louisiana
is also one of the leading states for hi-tech industry. Louisiana State
University (LSU) in Baton Rouge has one of the fastest computers in
the world, and New Orleans is set to become one of the world’s
leading medical research centres. A £21.6 million cancer research
centre is currently being built as part of a co-operative project between
LSU and Tulane University.
Mr Perry says: “We’ve focused on biosciences because we believe
they represent the future and we want New Orleans to become a world
leader in medical research.”
The
Vision 2020 business plan that the bureau has developed lays the foundations
for the achievement of its goals.
“We know the key lies in making a massive investment in education
because the world is now a knowledge-based economy,” says Mr Perry.
“You have to import intellectual capital, and we have invested
one billion dollars in the education system. We have gone from brain
drain to brain gain.”
Broadening
the educational experience available to Louisiana’s students is
the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts (NOCCA), which provides a unique
environment to study the professional arts. During the school year NOCCA
provides a rigorous half-day programme requiring students to first study
at their school and then travel to NOCCA for an intensive arts curriculum.
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Roy Williams
‘We’ve
increased from seven to ten million passengers in eight
years’
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New
Orleans is one of the top four cities in the US for big conventions,
and bookings have been made as far ahead as 2031. All this means there
will be a growing stream of air traffic, which is good news for Roy
Williams, Director of Aviation at the city’s airport.
“We
have increased the throughput of passengers from seven million to ten
million in just eight years, and by 2020 we will probably have doubled
that to 20 million,” he says. Around £159 million has been
spent on upgrading the airport and a new runway is in the pipeline.
There
used to be a British Airways London-to-Mexico route via New Orleans
but it was cut as it was deemed unprofitable. However, Mr Williams hopes
direct transatlantic flights will be re-established.
“Currently, the only international flights out of New Orleans are
to Canada and Central America. We believe we’ll regain a European
service in the future and we’re in talks with European airlines,”
he says.