Within the past six months, New Orleans played host to iconic events, including Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, our 11th Super Bowl, Mardi Gras and a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, as well as numerous meetings, business events and major conferences. Although the events were in New Orleans, the economic benefits and opportunities created through hosting these events resonate across all of Louisiana.
Super Bowl LIX presented an opportunity for New Orleans and Louisiana to be the mecca of not just the sports world but the business and entertainment world — and we delivered. The city was a shining star with record-breaking game viewership, praise from around world and a reminder that we are the most remarkable, unique and welcoming place on earth.
New Orleans received accolades from the NFL commissioner and more than 6,400 journalists in town to cover the game — the most ever for the NFL — all saying New Orleans hosts like no other city. Beyond the praise, over $3.5 million worth of grants were given to 65 nonprofits across a 10-parish region through Impact 59 powered by Entergy.
How do we build on this success in 2025 and beyond?
Diversity of Events
Mega events like the Super Bowl and Taylor Swift are important economic drivers and cultural focal points, but significant impact events come in many forms.
Our team at New Orleans & Company competes every day to bring a diverse array of events to our community that provide impact to various businesses and sectors of the economy. For much of the year, meetings and conventions form a foundational layer of New Orleans’ travel economy, with more than $2 billion in direct spending annually. In 2024, New Orleans & Company’s convention sales team booked 1.5 million definite hotel room nights into future years. Those convention attendees typically stay longer, spend more and engage more small businesses throughout the community to produce their events.
This summer, the 2025 Pokémon Championship Series will return to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, bringing 10,000 international visitors to the city. We also confirmed the return of the Americas Selection of Bocuse d’Or and the Pastry World Cup in the summer of 2026, as well as WrestleMania for the spring of 2026.
It is our job at New Orleans & Company to make sure New Orleans stays top of mind for meeting planners and event organizers of all sizes and remains a preferred destination well into the future. In January, we hosted the National Automobile Dealers Association’s annual meeting with over 20,000 attendees (while working around the historic snowstorm). The day after Super Bowl LIX, we welcomed The Center for Literacy and Learning’s “Plain Talk About Literacy and Learning” conference and more than 3,000 educators focused on preparing the next generation.
For our customers — whether they are gatherings of schoolteachers, physicians, high school athletes or business leaders — their event/meeting in New Orleans is their Super Bowl, their premier event, and we must deliver for them as well.
Why Tourism Matters
When people travel to New Orleans they spend on hotel stays, shopping, meals and drinks at restaurants and bars, but they do so much more. They support tens of thousands of workers, from culture bearers to construction workers, from bus drivers to tour operators, from business executives to audio-visual technicians and artists — the list goes on and on. Simply put, the travel economy touches us all. And when people spend, tax revenues are generated. Taxes paid by visitors accrue to the benefit of New Orleans and the state and equate to millions of dollars for vital services including education, infrastructure, public safety and more. These revenues come from hotel taxes as well as direct visitor spending in restaurants, venues, retail and other businesses, demonstrating the economic benefit of major events to our community.
The impact from New Orleans’ tourism industry expands beyond the Greater New Orleans area. Without the funds generated by New Orleans tourism, every family in Louisiana would pay thousands more dollars in annual taxes to support the same level of services.
And without the millions of visitors who choose New Orleans annually, our relatively small city would not sustain a world-class culture compared to cities with a much larger population for each of us to enjoy year-round.
The competition for tourism dollars and visitors is only becoming more intense as cities around the nation and the world work to bring more dollars to their communities. Our work can never stop. We must build on this positive momentum by investing wisely in our community to ensure we remain the most remarkable, unique and welcoming place in the world. How do we do that? By ensuring that New Orleans remains a great place to live, work, visit and invest.
Walt Leger III is president and CEO of New Orleans & Company, the official destination marketing and sales organization for New Orleans tourism industry. He may be reached at communications@neworleans.com.
