NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans' international travel grew 37% in 2015, according to figures released Thursday July 28, 2016, by the National Travel and Tourism Office, which is part of the United States Department of Commerce.
This represents the biggest one-year increase of any major U.S. City.
Behind New Orleans, Seattle and Dallas saw the next biggest increase in international travelers, the report said.
According to The Advocate’s Richard Thompson, New Orleans attracts about 675,000 international travelers annually.
Thompson reports a UNO study found visitors to New Orleans spent more than $7 billion last year, beating the previous year's record, and that in May, more than 1 million visitors traveled through Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the largest single-month tally in the facility's 70-year history.
