No matter how much metro New Orleans tries to diversify its economy, tourism remains our number one economic engine. Oil and gas, the port, and bio-med are all part of our growing economy, but tourism is still king. And we are on the brink of not only a new year, 2013, but a new tourism season as well.
It all starts next week with the annual Sugar Bowl game at the Superdome. A few weeks after that its Mardi Gras 2013. Right in the middle of this year’s carnival season we host our 10th Super Bowl. And a couple of months after that, we host the Women’s Final Four basketball championship at the New Orleans Arena.
That’s four major events expected to generate around $1 billion of economic impact to our region, and all 4 take place within the next 100 days. That’s about a $10 million per day impact over the next 3 months for metro New Orleans.
Oil and gas, the port, and bio-med help diversify our economy, but tourism and those tourist dollars are still the number one economic engine in New Orleans.
