mark romig-from katrina to the super bowl - keynote
TRANSCRIPT
2005-2013 RESIL IENCE
RECOVERY
RESURGENCE
NEW ORLEANS TOURISM
Insert superdome image
Hurricane Katrina Facts
• One of the deadliest hurricanes to ever hit
the US
• An estimated 1,836 people lost their lives
• Officials at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration have said
Katrina was the most destructive storm to
strike the United States.
• It ranks 6th overall in strength of all
hurricanes
Hurricane Katrina Facts
• Became a Category Five storm on Aug. 28, with
winds blowing at about 175 mph (280 kph)
• When the storm made landfall, it had a Category
3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale--
it brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per
hour--and stretched some 400 miles across
• Ultimately 80 percent of New Orleans and large
portions of nearby parishes became flooded, and
the floodwaters did not recede for weeks
Hurricane Katrina Facts • Total property damage from Katrina was
estimated at $81 billion, which was nearly triple
the damage inflicted by Hurricane Andrew in
1992.
• It flooded 80 percent of New Orleans and
destroyed more than 100,000 homes.
• The storm surge from Katrina was 20-feet (six
meters) high.
• Hurricane Katrina affected over 15 million people
in different factors such as economy,
evacuations, gas prices or drinking water.
Hurricane Katrina Facts
• Hurricane Katrina impacted about 90,000 square
miles.
• The region affected by the storm supported
roughly 1 million non-farm jobs, and still,
hundreds of thousands of local residents were
left unemployed by the hurricane.
Unprecedented Challenges
• Take care of our citizens
• Repair millions of dollars in damaged infrastructure
• Overcome unprecedented brand impairment
• Ensure every client had constant, honest progress
reports
• Rebuild $2 billion in lost business with virtually no
tax base
• Plan the resurgence of $5 billion industry that
employs 85,000 people and creates 35% of the
city’s operating budget
Forever New Orleans Campaign
Forever New Orleans Campaign
Airplane Tray Table Ads Airport Table Tray Ads
Strategic Internet Goals
• Generate INQUIRIES for travel information about New Orleans
• Generate online travel bookings
Internet Tactics • Extend search engine optimization (SEO) program with a deep-
link focus; broaden successful paid search programs
• Engage ad viewers with rich media ads featuring New Orleans’ best assets - Food, Music & Fun
• Monitor & influence external travel blogs
• Create and produce New Orleans Travel blog
• Leverage online radio station ownership, partnerships
• Develop new, niche micro-sites
• Strengthen profiles on social networking sites & build membership Email marketing
Internet Tactics (cont’d)
• Leverage & coordinate public relations strategies with online opportunities
• Develop and promote New Orleans travel packages
• Interactive Mapping
• Measure effectiveness of all marketing efforts
Come Fall in Love with New Orleans
• Invited people to come back
and experience the city just
like they had before Katrina
• Touted dozens of free
festivals and special events
• Offered special hotel rates to
motivate potential travelers
and made it easy to book
online
[video: come fall in love with new orleans]
Ellen – National TV support
Ellen – National TV support
LIVE with Regis and Kelly
LIVE with Regis and Kelly
Top Chef Season 5: Finale
• Two, 1-hour episodes
• Highest ratings to date for the show
• 1.85 million viewers
• Showed that New Orleans was back and
open for business
Top Chef Season 5 Finale
…..Plus Countless Emmy Nominations
8th Best Reality Show of All Time
#1 Food Show on Cable*
2010 Emmy Award for
Outstanding Reality Program
*Source: Nielsen Market Research
Regis and Kelly Return
We updated our tv commercial to invite
Regis and Kelly back to New Orleans for
another week of shows
We also leveraged
Regis and Kelly’s
huge online audience
to give away tickets to
their New Orleans
tapings when people
booked hotel rooms
through our site.
And we promoted our
summer hotel specials
and lots of other great
reasons to visit New
Orleans.
BP Oil Spill Facts
• More than 200 million gallons of crude oil was pumped
into the Gulf of Mexico for a total of 87 days, making it
the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
• 16,000 total miles of coastline were affected, including
the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
and Florida.
• Even though the gushing well was capped in July 2010,
oil is still washing up on shores, which might cause
long-term damages to people living in the area.
• The initial oil rig explosion killed 11 people and injured
17 others.
Source: http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-bp-oil-spill
BP Oil Spill Challenges
• Acknowledge tragedy while communicating its
geographic distance from New Orleans
• Ease weary customers about yet another
booking objection
• Overcome concerns of air, water and seafood
safety
• All while New Orleans was the site of most
media reports
Misperceptions
• 80% believed oil would affect Louisiana for at
least two years
• 29% who had plans to visit Louisiana cancelled
or postponed their trips
• 28% believed that the oil spill was as bad as or
worse than the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita
• 45% were following the story closely
• 48% believed that restaurants that serve
Louisiana seafood put customers at risk
Key Messages
• New Orleans is 100 miles inland
• All of the things that visitors enjoy
have been unchanged by the
disaster in the Gulf of Mexico
• Seafood is safe and is scrutinized
and tested by more federal agencies
than ever before
BP Oil Spill Response BP Ad Campaign
BP Oil Spill Response BP Ad Campaign
Online Support for Festivals
We created a wide
variety of custom
landing pages to
highlight our free
festivals and events
to a targeted online
audience
Online Support for Festivals • Promoted festivals and other
New Orleans special events
year-round though monthly
e-newsletter
• Grew database to 401,428
subscribers
• All New Orleans events were
Tweeted and posted to
Facebook – New Orleans has
lots of friends and followers!
• Ran targeted search
marketing ads on Google and
Yahoo! for all New Orleans
festivals and events
Official Visitor’s Guide
• Visitor guide created
in partnership with
Convention and
Visitors Bureau
• 350,000 guides
printed twice a year
(January and July)
• Emphasized value -
highlighting free and
low cost attractions
Ellen Show Promotion
•Assisted the producers of
the Ellen show with their
Mardi Gras special
•Sponsored two contests
for FREE trips to New
Orleans for our signature
festivals to give away on
Ellen
•Episode has aired three
additional times since its
debut for Mardi Gras
NOLA Navy Week
Recent Events and Accolades
• Record-breaking festival attendance
• Super Bowl 2013, NBA All Star 2008 and
2014, Final Fours
• America’s Favorite City and multiple honors
Visitor Trends
10.1
3.7
7.1 7.6 7.5
8.3 8.75
9.01
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
* Numbers in millions of visitors
Top Chef Season 11: New Orleans
Connect with us
sites:
• NewOrleansOnline.com
• FollowYourNola.com
• GoNOLA.com
social channels:
• Facebook.com/NewOrleans
• Twitter.com/VisitNewOrleans
• Instagram.com/VisitNewOrleans
• Pinterest.com/VisitNewOrleans