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New Orleans residents key to city’s recovery
WTM Special Report: New Orleans must not only rebuild its infrastructure but persuade its former residents to return if the city is to fully recover from hurricane Katrina, tourist chiefs have said.
Lt Governor Mitch Landrieu said it was critical its vibrant people once again made their homes in New Orleans if it was to recapture the heart and soul that made it so unique.
“We don’t want just to become another US city,” he said.
Many of New Orleans City’s 484,000 population fled as hurricane Katrina approached, with the remainder evacuated – eventually – in the days following the disaster.
The Lt Governor predicted 300,000 would return within 12 months but admitted it would be “a long time” before others returned.
“The diversity, culture and richness of the people are the foundation upon which New Orleans is built,” he said.
Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, stressed the French Quarter and general tourism infrastructure remained in tact with the vast majority of hotels and restaurants already open.
Report by Steve Jones
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