The Big Easy's Biggest Challenges

Will New Orleans ever reopen? Hurricane Katrina smashed homes, halted business, closed the port, and crushed the city's tourist trade. Last year visitors spent $4.9 billion cavorting there -- 44% of the state's tourism take. Now, with 80% of the city under water, those revenues could evaporate, along with $158 million in state tax revenues. Trade, which employs 95,000 in the city, could be stymied for months. About 30% of the $25 billion in insured losses occurred in New Orleans proper, say insurance analysts.

UPENDED. Bringing tourists -- and residents -- back to New Orleans could prove tough. The tourist business, which employs 84,300 people, is petering out fast. Airlines have been forced to cancel flights, and hotels have halted bookings. Officials at Omni Hotels in Irving, Tex., which owns two New Orleans properties, canceled all reservations through Sept. 24.

Worse, the convention business has been upended. The AARP was due to hold its annual meeting there in late September. Registration had hit 25,000. "The question was: Would New Orleans be a bigger draw than Las Vegas last year?" says the AARP's Nancy Thompson. "Now we'll never know."

External Source - For the complete article click here

Source - BusinessWeek