Almost two years after Katrina, the most popular tour in visitor-sluggish New Orleans is a look back at the disaster.
Demand for tours of the devastation overwhelms that for visits to mainstay attractions such as cemeteries, plantations and swamps, says the AP.
”Our survival depends on it. If I quit doing the post-Katrina city tour, I’m out of business,” said Isabelle Cossart of Tours by Isabelle. The tour is described as “70 miles of destruction in 3 ½ hours.”
The tour includes the Superdome, where thousands of refugees suffered after Katrina in large part because it was never intended to be a shelter and food was scarce.
The tour also includes the hard-hit Lower 9th Ward.
The $58-per-person Katrina tour now makes up three-quarters of Ms Cossart’s business.
Tourism officials have struggled with post-hurricane stress within the industry.
Some downtown hotels — including the Hyatt and the Fairmont — remain closed. But the convention center and most tourist attractions are open.
The bellwether French Quarter was almost untouched by the hurricane, and visitors notice virtually no difference there.
Kelly Schulz, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the disaster tours help convince travel agents and convention bookers that devastated areas are distant from tourism venues.
Ms Schulz said business and convention travel has recovered much faster than leisure visits to New Orleans, but there are good signs about the latter. Mardi Gras attendance rebounded this year to about 800,000 — about 80% of pre-Katrina. Attendance records were set at the French Quarter Festival and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Report by David Wilkening
