NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOCVB) is continuing its marketing efforts in the South American tourism market through sales missions and partnerships with international airlines. Most recently, Maria Manzella, director of tourism at the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, organized a sales mission to Colombia March 20-23. The Convention and Visitors Bureau secured Copa Airlines as a key sponsor and partner, along with Louisiana Tax Free Shopping, to showcase travel to New Orleans. The trip included a networking lunch with a presentation on New Orleans to leisure tour operators and media in both Bogota and Medellin.
Copa Airlines will celebrate its second anniversary of a direct flight from Panama to New Orleans in June of 2017 and this sales mission reinforced travel efforts from Latin America to New Orleans, NOCVB reps said. The U.S. Department of Commerce has ranked Colombia number 13 in their top 20 countries in 2015 for growth, and they predict Colombia to show continued growth in visitation to the United States through 2021. Currently, an estimated 888,000 visitors are forecast to travel from Colombia to the United States by 2018.
"This mission to Colombia is just one of several projects that our team is pursuing to continue to help drive New Orleans as an international travel destination," said Kim Priez, vice president of tourism at the NOCVB.
The NOCVB participates in numerous international sales missions each year, all targeting markets with the highest potential of growth and visitations, reps said. This mission was rooted in increasing interest shown in New Orleans by Colombian tour operators, as well as the positive state of the Colombian economy.
