Rebuilding New Orleans’ Tourism Industry After Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill

Kristian SonnierNew Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau

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Katrina: Unprecedented Challenges

• Take care of staff that had lost everything • Repair millions of dollars in damaged

infrastructure• Overcome unprecedented brand impairment• Ensure every client had constant, honest

progress reports• Rebuild $2 billion in lost business with

virtually no tax base• Plan the resurgence of $5 billion industry that

employs 85,000 people and creates 35% of the city’s operating budget

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Continued Negative Media Exposure

• In New Orleans, Dysfunction Fuels Cycle of Killing - The New York Times, Feb. 5, 2007

• Murder City USA - Anderson Cooper 360, Feb. 8, 2007

• Post-Katrina Crime Shoots Up - ABCNews.com, June 20, 2007

• New Orleans Death Rates on the Rise - USA Today, June 27, 2007

• Why New Orleans Still Isn’t Safe - Time magazine, Aug. 13, 2007

• Killer Bees Descend on New Orleans - MSNBC.com, Sept. 12, 2007

• Not Another Katrina – The Washington Post, Oct. 24, 2007

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Forever New Orleans Campaign

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Forever New Orleans Campaign

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Forever New Orleans Campaign

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Forever New Orleans Campaign

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Forever New Orleans Campaign

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Forever New Orleans Campaign

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Forever New Orleans Campaign

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Forever New Orleans Campaign

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National Billboard Campaign

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National Billboard Campaign

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Airplane Tray Table Ads

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PR Objectives

Restore the image of New Orleans as a premiere leisure and convention destination.• Secure positive media coverage in broadcast, print and

online media• Influence the way journalists report on New Orleans• Communicate good news about New Orleans to all

audiences• Help market and promote reasons to visit• Create marketing toolkits for internal and external clients• Preserve the New Orleans brand through crisis

management, media coverage analysis, photo/video library, key messages and more

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Taking the Show on the Road

• NY, Chicago, DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas

• Positive media coverage reaching millions of potential visitors

• Thousands of visitors visit the streetcar in major markets

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Seeing Is Believing

• More than 700 international journalists hosted in 2007 on customized trips to dispel myths

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Positive Media Exposure

• Mardi Gras Has Come Back Big - USA Today, Feb. 26, 2007

• Brad Pitt Says He Misses Living in New Orleans – People magazine, May 14, 2007

• Sports Revival Progressing New Orleans – USA Today, Sept. 26, 2007

• New Orleans: Alive and Well and Better Than Ever – Corporate & Incentive Travel magazine, Sept. 2007

• Tourists Return to New Orleans as City Mends - USA Today, Oct. 12, 2007

• Convention-goers’ Big Bucks Return to New Orleans - MSNBC.com, Oct. 18, 2007

• New Orleans Streetcars Roll Again - CNN.com, Nov. 11, 2007

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Perception Survey

• 80% believe oil will affect Louisiana for at least two years

• 29% who had plans to visit Louisiana have cancelled or postponed their trips

• 28% believe that the oil spill is as bad as or worse than the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita

• 45% are following the story closely• 48% believe that restaurants that serve

Louisiana seafood put customers at risk24

BP Oil Spill Challenges

• Acknowledge tragedy while communicating its geographic distance from New Orleans

• Ease weary customers about yet another booking objection

• Overcome concerns of air, water and seafood safety

• All while New Orleans was the site of most media reports

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Key Messages

• New Orleans is 100 miles inland• All of the things that visitors enjoy have

been unchanged by the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

• Seafood is safe and is scrutinized and tested by more federal agencies than ever before

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BP Public Relations Tactics

• $1 million plan in 60 days• Engaged seven agencies, 21-person team of

experts• Satellite Media Tours• Social Media• National Media Relations• Multicultural Campaign• Video• Regional PR• Member Toolkits and Resource Guide• Katrina 5th Anniversary

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BP Ad Campaign

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BP Ad Campaign

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BP Ad Campaign

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Results

• 22 awards in 2014, T&L America’s Favorite City• Super Bowl 2013, NBA All Star 2008 and 2014• Record-breaking festival and convention attendance • 2014: 9.52 million visitors• 2013: 9.28 million visitors• 2012: 9.1 million visitors• 2011: 8.75 million visitors• 2010: 8.3 million visitors and number one growing

destination in the country• 2009: 7.5 million visitors• 2008: 7.6 million visitors• 2007: 7.1 million visitors• 2006: 3.7 million visitors• Pre-K: 8.5 million visitors

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