NEW ORLEANS– New Year’s Eve is looking quite different in New Orleans this year with tourism drastically down because of the pandemic.
“It is so very different. The hotel occupancy numbers are very, very low especially compared to a normal New Year’s Eve. Typically the hotels are sold-out,” Kelly Schulz, Senior Vice-President of Communications at New Orleans & Company.
Schulz says there are less visitors because less fans are allowed at the Sugar Bowl, which draws a huge crowd every year.
“Superdome capacity is only 3,000 people this year, which is much fewer fans that would be coming in to celebrate,” she said.
She says with less visitors it is an opportunity for locals to help the economy bounce back.
“Tourism is a 10-billion dollar industry for New Orleans. 43 percent of the city’s operating budget. While we don’t have visitors in large numbers, it is a great opportunity for locals to go eat at your favorite restaurants that you typically can’t get a reservation for on most New Year’s,” Schulz said.
Visitors like Danielle Johnson and Kelani Verdine came to New Orleans from Atlanta on a girl’s trip.
“We wanted to get our spirits up. New Orleans is family, fun, and music. It is quieter than I expected, but you can still feel the soul of the city,” Verdine said.
“New Orleans thrives off of tourism, so it is nice that we were able to come here and support the city,” Johnson said.
“We appreciate the people that are coming to visit NOLA,” Schulz said.
Tourism leaders are optimistic about the new year.
“We are very much looking forward to 2021 when visitors do start to come back,” Schulz said.
Tourism leaders say for 2020, they estimate that they are losing about 125-million dollars in tourism money every single week.