Tour passenger Kaye Moeller, a retired teacher from Bluefield Hills, Mich., who took the disaster tour earlier this summer, said the flood-damaged areas reminded her of downtown
Detroit. But
New Orleans "didn't look quite as bad because people had taken care of the property. So it looked like people might be moving back in," she said.
Carole Carr of Mount Prospect, Ill., a
Chicago suburb, said she was pleasantly surprised by how good the downtown area looked, but felt uneasy about how little has been done elsewhere.
"It's disturbing that more hasn't been done to protect them from future problems," she said. "The longer people stay away, the less chance that they would ever come back. And I'm sure many are not coming back." About 220,000 people out of the pre-Katrina population of 455,000 have returned.
Disaster tours at one time made up 99 percent of Cossart's business, but the mix has changed a bit over time. "Now we are a little happier because it's 75 percent of the requests," said Cossart. "People are starting to ask for beauty again."
At Gray Line, which started disaster tours in January 2006, the $35 trip made up about 65 percent of total ridership for nine months. It's now down to half the total, said vice president and general manager Gary Hoffman.
Passenger counts are double those of 2006, when tourism took a sharp fall. Still, total business is only about 40 percent of pre-Katrina levels, Hoffman said.
Schulz said business and convention travel has recovered much faster than leisure visits to
New Orleans, but there are good signs about the latter. Mardi Gras attendance rebounded this year to about 800,000 - about 80 percent of pre-Katrina. Attendance records were set at the French Quarter Festival and the
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
"Our biggest challenge is really just dispelling myths" and convincing people
New Orleans is a good place to come despite the bad news about the city, she said.
If You Go ...TOURS BY ISABELLE: http://www.toursbyisabelle.com/ or 877-665-8687. Post-Katrina City Tour offered 8:30 a.m.-noon or 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m.; $58. Also offers plantation tours and airboat and swamp tours.
GRAY LINE TOURS: http://www.graylineneworleans.com or 800-535-7786. Hurricane Katrina Tour offered 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily. Adults $35, children $28. Also offers city tours, plantation tours, swamp and bayou tours, cemetery tour, evening tours and combination tours.
NEW ORLEANS CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU: http://www.neworleanscvb.com/ or 800-672-6124.
UPCOMING NEW ORLEANS EVENTS: Voodoo Music Experience, Oct. 26-28; http://www.voodoomusicfest.com . Mardi Gras, Feb. 5 (2008), with parades, parties and celebrations running for several weeks beforehand; http://www.mardigras.com . French Quarter Festival, April 11-13. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, April 25-May 4.
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