03/09/10, 05:32:34 EDT

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Happy tourism talk fails to convince operators

neworleanscitybusiness.com

Eyebrows shot up throughout the crowd of 700 at the La Nouvelle Orleans room May 14 in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center when Stephen Perry touted how well the tourism rebound was going.

Although acknowledging New Orleans tourism has lost $3 billion since Hurricane Katrina, the president and CEO of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau claimed conventions and meetings would be nearly at normal levels in 2008. Of course, this still leaves a huge dearth of leisure travelers but Perry did not touch on that.

Perry’s comments were greeted with the same skepticism in the audience generated by Ana Guevara, deputy assistant director of services for the U.S. Department of Commerce, who claimed President Bush was doing all he could to honor his Jackson Square promises to support the recovery.

No one bought her line either.

Huge tracts of hotel rooms are going unlet this summer and next. The tourism decline has For Sale signs lining Royal Street, a sure indicator the tourism sector is ailing badly.

“We only sold about 65 percent of rooms during the first week of Jazz Fest,” said one hotelier. “We sold about 75 percent the second week.”

With 70 percent occupancy representing a break-even mark for hoteliers, a big event such as Jazz Fest is usually looked upon for a much bigger revenue jolt. Many of the bigger hotels sold more than 90 percent of room inventories but the trickle-down was softer for some of the boutique types.

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, however, was well received with his more realistic assessments.

“Quit trying to get back to where we were before,” Landrieu implored. “Because where we were before is not good enough. We need a cultural change. I’m talking about the caliber of work ethic.”

Amy Reimer, general manager of the Intercontinental Hotel and chairwoman of the NOMCVB, also called for providing “excellence.”

“It matters: clean cabs, great attitude, clean rooms,” Reimer said. “Our goal is to remain one of the most admired cities to visit in the world.”

The unsung star of the NOMCVB awards luncheon was the convention center itself, which looks terrific.

Cause for applause

The NOMCVB luncheon honored CityBusiness food critic Tom Fitzmorris for consistently touting New Orleans cuisine; Deidre Ross, meeting planner of the American Library Association for being the first to book an event here post-Katrina; an absent Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose for his poignant coverage; the New Orleans Saints for Bearly missing the Super Bowl; and Sidney Torres IV, owner of STD Waste and Debris for cleaning up the French Quarter.

Guess who received the biggest hand? Torres for doing what had never really been done before. STD has reduced the worst of the funkiness in the French Quarter by moving garbage quickly and efficiently. The hand for Torres rolled into a standing ovation.


Money well spent

After Hurricane Katrina blew through the penthouse area of the Windsor Court Hotel and sucked out all the furniture, General Manager Ashish Verma used the required renovation as an opportunity to implement a new suite of amenities.

The result is a plush new 22nd floor highlighted by a Club Level Lounge with spectacular views of the riverfront. Manager Mary Romano, a New Orleans native, said access to the Club Level Lounge is by private card key only. It costs roughly $100 more to upgrade to a room on floors 19 through 22, with Club Level Lounge privileges, a true value when considering it offers three free meals per day and complimentary premium liquor and wines during happy hour, which begins at 5 p.m.

“It’s very pampering,” Romano said.

The Club Level floor plans had been in the works for five years. Aimed at high-profile repeat guests, the suites have been sold out since opening softly over the past two months.

Rooms with access to the Club Level Lounge cost anywhere from $400 to $600 per night. The penthouse starts at $3,000 per evening. Those prices haven’t deterred former presidents and star performers from Jazz Fest and Essence Fest, all of whom have stayed with the Windsor Court, Romano said.•

 Printable Version  | published May 21, 2007