The meeting market and the city in general got an image boost from a recent live “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” filmed at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
“The timing of the broadcast is good for the city, which, after a better-than-expected 2006 for meetings, has seen a rise in cancellations from meeting groups for 2007 and 2008 events,” said Mimegasite.com.
Some event planners who cancelled did so without setting foot in the destination to see the progress that has been made since Hurricane Katrina hit, said Cory Chambers, director of sales and marketing for the New Orleans Marriott.
“Much of what the city faces with meeting planners is simply perception,” he said
In response, the city and several of its meetings-heavy hotels are hosting more familiarization trips of planners to show them firsthand the rebound of the tourism and hotel markets in New Orleans.
Report by David Wilkening
