One Year Later

Watching a group of youths dancing blithely to Goth and industrial music at the Whirling Dervish nightclub on Decatur Street in the New Orleans French Quarter, it’s hard to imagine that many of the images broadcast from Hurricane Katrina just a year ago were taken a few blocks away.

It’s one thing for small groups of tourists to book a flight and hotel to party for a few days in the largely undamaged French Quarter. It’s another thing when the cost and effort of a major event, meeting or convention are at stake.

Ranked before the storm as the fifth-largest convention city in the United States, after Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando and New York, post-Katrina New Orleans has been waging a war to recapture its image.

Since last fall the city has seen $2 billion in meetings business cancelled, according to the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOMCVB).

Local tourism officials say the city is ready to return to its past glory, and several groups have returned to hold meetings, many out of a sense of duty and to support the community. But how sustainable is that support? Are groups willing to risk planning meetings a year or two out not knowing what the next hurricane season will bring?

A report published by the Louisiana Recovery Authority in April estimates New Orleans is currently losing $15.2 million per day in visitor spending. Because tourism is the largest industry in the Big Easy, the stakes are high.

But despite the numbers, planners say New Orleans is on the mend.

“From experience I can say that New Orleans is already re-establishing itself as a huge tourist attraction and is ready to accommodate large groups right now,” says Lynn McCullough, executive director of the Association for Convention Operations Management (ACOM), which recently held its summer meeting in New Orleans.

“Everything ran smoothly and the atmosphere was very lively and safe. We had planned to have ACOM’s conference there before Katrina hit, and then decided to keep it there to show support for New Orleans’ venues and businesses. It’s important to keep in mind that they need our support now more than ever.”

Cancellations and Celebrations

While there’s been a massive cleanup since the flooding seen on TV, other parts of the city appear as if they could be suburbs of Baghdad. With much of the area’s housing destroyed, the service industry has seen a dearth of available labor. But while 80 percent of the city breached by Katrina’s waters remains in disarray, other sections thrive.

“The French Quarter and areas of the city that visitors most enjoyed were thankfully spared Katrina’s wrath,” says Dickie Brennan, managing partner of the highly acclaimed Palace Café, Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse and Bourbon House. “Our three restaurants are back open, along with most of the best-known restaurants and hotels. It’s equally important to know that by hosting meetings and conventions here that you’re helping us to strengthen families and to regain what we’ve lost.”

This year’s Mardi Gras celebrations, followed by the Jazz and Heritage Festival, were successful events, says Mary Beth Romig, director of communications and public relations for the NOMCVB. Smaller meetings have been held regularly, and conventions have returned.

“Since early spring, hotels in the city have been hosting in-hotel meetings on a consistent basis,” she says. “With the meeting of the American Library Association in late June, on the heels of two other conventions, Air and Waste Management and the National Association of Directors of Collegiate Athletics, we proved that we were ready to handle our first city-wide convention since the storm.”

That’s not to say some groups haven’t cancelled.

“Essence Festival is one group that is obvious when it comes to canceling this year in New Orleans,” Romig says. “Of course, I can say that early on after the hurricane, groups cancelled for a variety of reasons. Either the hotels were not available [due to] relief workers and other recovery officials occupying rooms, or perhaps the meeting required the convention center or Superdome. As well, tourism officials in those early months advised groups to move their meetings.”

After 11 consecutive years in New Orleans, Essence Music Festival, which took place in July, moved to Houston.

Another group forced to move its convention was the National Catholic Development Conference.

“Katrina hit the area less than a month before our scheduled arrival,” says Sister Georgette Lehmuth, president and CEO of the organization. “The hotel in New Orleans informed us that they could not accommodate us, and the airport was closed.” The group held its convention in St. Louis.

Promising Signs — and a few Glitches

Nonetheless, much has changed since the early days after Katrina made landfall and its subsequent aftereffects. The Superdome hosts its first event since the disaster, the Saints/Falcons football game, on Sept. 25.

“Most of the major attractions are open, such as Harrah’s Casino, the Aquarium of the Americas, Jax Brewery, the Hard Rock Cafe and the New Orleans Museum of Art,” says Don Zimmer, director of marketing for the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel. “The majority of the downtown and French Quarter hotels are opened, staffed and ready to share the Southern hospitality that is New Orleans.”

While hotels have been generally flexible regarding the risk factors posed by the current hurricane season, at least one group expressed concern with its future agreement.

“Aside from the standard force majeure [a cancellation as a result of the elements of nature] clause, contracts from the convention center and its major hotels have not changed,” says Salvatore J. Chiarelli, director of meetings and events for the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. The society is scheduled to hold a convention in New Orleans in late April, 2007.

“Should the convention center be spared any damage from a major storm that wipes out the convention center hotels, our association would be held liable to the convention center contract,” Chiarelli says. “We have cancellation insurance, which would protect us under this scenario; however, it is disturbing that the convention center is not offering this type of coverage, as Louisiana law prohibits it.”

Officials with the American Library Association report good results for the organization’s annual meeting of 18,000 delegates in June, the largest event held in New Orleans since the storm. But it didn’t come off without a hitch.

“New Orleans is prepared,” says Leslie Burger, the association’s president. “They’re interested in getting the convention business and it is key to bringing the city back. We saw that visibly in June. [But] as conventions continue coming in, the city will need to adapt to meet each group’s needs. For example, we had some problems with flights. As more people plan trips, the city needs to communicate with the airlines better to add more seats.”

Glitches aside, most say the city is making every effort to recapture its place among the elite events and meetings locations.

“The ALA event filled 8,000 peak hotel room nights to nearly 30 hotels, and generated millions of dollars in economic impact to the city,” says meeting planner Kara C. Pigeon of New Orleans-based Signature Events LLC. “On the small scale, the city is enjoying the unified support of many corporate companies who are bringing their sales meeting to New Orleans — like our client, The Dannon Co. Inc., who was very happy with what they experienced.”

Yulonda T. Griffin, whose Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International held its annual conference at the convention center in mid-July, agrees.

“The mayor’s office, central business district, hotels, transportation, convention [and] visitors bureau, convention center and airport were all accommodating and met our needs above and beyond,” she says. “The public transportation system provided a special bus line for our delegates to allow convenient travel to and from hotels. Restaurants were wonderful as well as the food.”

Full Gospel is pitching in to help rebuild homes in the area.

Another silver lining: at least one conference came there because of the storm. The Alliance for Children and Families, a national association of more than 350 private, nonprofit social service agencies and organizations, actually changed the location of its board meeting from Milwaukee to New Orleans in order to show its support.

“We are going to New Orleans because we believe it is ready for meetings like ours and to further demonstrate our support for FSGNO and its staff and volunteer board members,” says Peter B. Goldberg, the organization’s president and CEO. “They have all showed great courage and perseverance during an extremely difficult time. Having our Alliance board meeting in New Orleans is a tribute to FSGNO’s unwavering commitment to serving vulnerable and underserved children and families, despite the hardships it has faced.”