In the first half of 2012, New Orleans hosted 4.9 million visitors who spent a total of $3.45 billion, up 2 percent and 11 percent, respectively, over the first six months of 2011, the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOCVB) and the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp. (NOTMC) announced last week.
Part of the University of New Orleans (UNO) Hospitality Research Center's 2012 New Orleans Visitor Area Profile, the data suggest continued growth for tourism in the Big Easy, which had a banner year in 2011 with 8.75 million visitors and $5.47 billion in visitor spending — a significant increase over 2010 and the highest spending in the city's history.
"The UNO visitor study provides strong evidence of the continued upward trend of the New Orleans tourism industry," said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. "This growth is excellent news, demonstrating the resiliency of the industry and the importance the cultural economy plays in the overall economic health of our city and region. We're talking jobs and valuable tax dollars. We expect these numbers and this important industry will continue to grow as we play host to an unprecedented series of national and international events, including Super Bowl XLVII in 2013."
Other highlights from UNO's report:
• Of the 4.9 million visitors to date, 74.1 percent were visiting New Orleans for vacation/pleasure; 14.3 percent for conventions, associations, corporate meetings and/or trade shows; and 11.7 percent for general business.
• Of all visitors, 50 percent stayed in a hotel, while 26.6 percent were visiting friends and relatives.
• The average number of nights stayed by visitors was 4.1 nights.
• Per-trip expenditures among visitors were up in all categories except for shopping. The largest jumps in per-trip expenditures were in bars and nightclubs, with a 27.2 percent increase from the same period in 2011, and lodging, with a 18.1 percent increase from 2011.
• More than half of business visitors to the New Orleans area (60 percent) extended their stay for pleasure for an average 2.1 days.
• While Louisiana was the top feeder market (12.6 percent) for New Orleans, the next most popular states for visitation in order were Texas (9.5 percent), Alabama (5.6 percent), California (5.5 percent) and Florida (5.3 percent).
• At 2012's half-year mark, 91.4 percent of respondents said they were very likely or likely to recommend New Orleans as a destination to their friends and family.
"As we plan our marketing approach for 2013, these first half-year results show that our use of both traditional and online media tools are working well as we communicate the authentic experience that New Orleans provides to visitors," said Mark Romig, president and CEO of NOTMC. "We have an amazing product that gives us a competitive advantage over other destinations, and we will work to continue to aggressively market these authentic experiences and activate them through an urgency to visit."