New Orleans is a Tough Sell for Meetings
By William Ng, Mimegasite.com, 09/25/2006
In the latest MeetingNews survey, more than 400 association and corporate planners were queried on their feelings about holding future meetings in New Orleans. Only 13 percent stated that they would book now for a 2007 meeting in the Big Easy, and barely more (14 percent) would book now for an event in 2008 or beyond. One-third of respondents said they are waiting until at least 2008 before they would even think about holding a meeting in the city.
The MN survey results are a stark contrast to the commitment of support shown by the American Library Association (ALA), which held its milestone-making citywide annual convention there in June; by the International Association of Association Management Companies, which in a recent announcement urged members to push their clients' meetings to the city over the next five years; and by the Professional Convention Management Association, which in late August announced its 2009 annual meeting there.
Even with that support, the city continues a battle against the perception that it is still unsafe and uninhabitable, let alone prepared to host meetings, according to Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Because of the ongoing TV coverage of the Lower Ninth Ward [away from downtown], many have a negative impression of the city," said the city's top hospitality and tourism official.
And that perception appears to be dominating planners' minds. In the MN survey, respondents were asked to rate their level of concern on seven major issues that would weigh in their decision to book meetings in New Orleans. The physical well-being of attendees was by far the lead concern of planners. Nearly 84 percent of respondents characterized themselves as having "above-average concern" or "extreme concern" about the city's crime and degree of safety. This was followed by air and water quality, with 69 percent citing that they had above-average or extreme concern about those issues.
"I'm not convinced that there aren't toxins in the water and air," remarked Liz Hall, a planner for brokerage giant Raymond James Financial in St. Petersburg, FL, who took New Orleans out of the company's destination rotation. "I'd love to plan a meeting there but, being in charge of my attendees' well-being, I don't feel it's now the responsible thing to do."
"That has not been an issue since the end of last September," Perry contended, noting that tests of the city's air and water by the EPA and other agencies have turned up negative. "It's a pervasive myth that continues to mystify us."
Addressing planners' crime and safety concerns, Perry said the police department has been able to refocus patrols and resources back into the city, as the National Guard has assumed watch over the troubled outlying areas like the Lower Ninth Ward. The result: Crime in tourist areas is at its lowest levels in 20 years.
While Perry acknowledged that some of the city's neighborhoods still face "tremendous challenges," he stressed that all convention and tourist areas — the French Quarter, riverfront, and business district — are running well. "All the restaurants are open, the hotels haven't looked better in 15 years, the convention center looks like a brand-new building."
"What everyone sees in the news is far away from the convention area and where attendees wouldn't go," added ALA conferences director Deidre Ross, who was at the group's annual meeting in the city in June and noted that the organization has recommitted to New Orleans for its 2011 convention. "Everything in the French Quarter is exactly the same as it was."
Yet in the survey, the continued disrepair of residential neighborhoods played as much a part as the state of tourist areas in planners' concerns about the city's vibrancy. Jaime Barnhart, conference and events coordinator for Arlington, VA-based Employee Assistance Professionals Association, noted that Katrina affected New Orleans not only physically, but also in its ambiance.
"There used to be a happy-go-lucky environment," said Barnhart of the destination. "Katrina was a big hit to the city's personality. It's going to take awhile for planners to regain confidence" in that aspect.
Nearly half of those surveyed believe New Orleans will rebound to become an appealing destination again, but not to the extent it was before Katrina. "It will be viable, but it's going to be different," said Hall. "Everyone wants it to succeed, but can it be the same after such a disaster?"
Association planners in the survey (40 percent) were more bullish than corporate planners (29 percent) about the city's ability to fully regain its prominence in the meetings market. They also were more amenable than their corporate counterparts to holding future meetings in New Orleans; 13 percent of corporate planners doubt they'd ever consider the city again, versus 7 percent for association planners.
Perry said the data makes "absolute sense," as New Orleans has primarily been an association-meetings city. "Corporate planners are not as familiar with the city, and many now have a negative impression because of news coverage." He noted that, even before Katrina, the bureau was working on a rebranding program to increase both corporate and small meetings in the city.
As New Orleans is expecting to receive additional federal recovery aid, Perry said the bureau will use part of that money to more aggressively market to corporations and diversify into small meetings in the next two years. "In the late '90s and early 2000s, the city was so focused on the largest associations in the country, our small-meetings market was never developed. We realize they are important to our portfolio," he acknowledged.
With 75 percent of the city's 35,000-room inventory having come back on line, and with many association meetings — which are planned years ahead and require large room blocks — having relocated elsewhere, market conditions in New Orleans are favoring smaller corporate meetings in the short term.
"In fact, we're getting lots of small corporate meetings business this fall," said Perry. "Many of them weren't scheduled before. We've had the most corporate site inspections in our history in the last six months."
As for the skeptics, Perry challenged planners to visit the city and perform due diligence. "We've found that 94 percent of those who came here to evaluate the area confirmed their bookings. They were stunned at conditions; their perceptions changed completely."
Stated Perry, "We've adopted the motto: Seeing is believing."