New Orleans -- Plans to expand the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center by nearly 50 percent have been canceled in favor of refurbishing the center's present 1.1 million square feet of exhibit and meeting space.
The change of plans aligns with the strategy of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau to focus more marketing efforts on corporate meetings, according to bureau president Stephen Perry.
"This is not a negative," Perry reportedly said after the center board voted last week to scrap the expansion plans. "In fact, what it is a very prudent diversification strategy."
The city has not fully recovered its convention business since Hurricane Katrina struck the city, two years ago.
Convention center officials figure that upgrading the existing space with better furniture, lighting, and technology will prove more attractive to corporate groups as well as the traditional association customers.
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