NEW ORLEANS-For the first time since Hurricane Katrina, the city has welcomed more than eight million visitors annually--in fact, more than 8.3 million people visited here in 2010, a 10.7% increase over 2009. And, as the city reached that tourism milestone, the local hotel sector blossomed, according to Randy McCaslin, vice president and practice leader for PKF Consulting.
“New Orleans is really hitting its stride,” McCaslin says. “It’s no longer ‘Poor New Orleans’, it’s now ‘Amazing New Orleans’.”
McCaslin points out that 2010 was a “great year” for New Orleans’ hospitality sector. In comparison, however, he expects the next three years to be even better.
“Over the next three years, New Orleans has some great things happening, from major sporting events such as the BSC Championship Game in 2012 and the Super Bowl in 2013 to significant conferences and festivals,” McCaslin notes. “I would not be surprised to see New Orleans’ hospitality market as the strongest in the nation over the next three years. If not the strongest, it definitely will be in the top three or four of all hospitality markets.”
Like most of the country, New Orleans’s hospitality sector was hit by the “Great Recession”, and 2009 was a terrible year for lodging demand. However, McCaslin tells GlobeSt.com that visitors flooded New Orleans for the Super Bowl victory party in early 2010 and the rush “just never slowed down.”
McCaslin notes: “Every festival and event in the city exceeded expectations--more people attended than anyone predicted. Also, most group events met or exceeded their block allotments. The demand continued into August and September--which historically have been slow months, even prior to Katrina, because of the heat.”
In 2010, New Orleans hotels finished the year with a RevPAR gain of 14.8%--significantly better than the national average of 5.5%, according to Colliers PFK Hotel Horizons market report for March 2011 to May 2011. This was the result of an increase in occupancy of 12.7% and a 1.9% gain in average daily room rates (ADR).
Looking towards 2011, New Orleans RevPAR is expected to grow 2.3%. Although occupancy is forecast to drop 2.7%--primarily is comparison to last year’s huge gains--average room rates are projected to increase 5.1%.
“New Orleans is one of those few markets where everybody wants to go,” McCaslin says “Katrina and the economy had an impact, but ultimately, there are just some places that draw people, and New Orleans is one of those places.”
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