Millions are celebrating Mardi Gras around the world, but no one does it bigger than New Orleans. The celebration has a large economic impact on the Big Easy, bringing in over $1 billion annually, which is roughly 2 percent of the city’s GDP. Personal finance website WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzales says it’s growing too.
“There’s been about a 66% increase on Mardi Gras’s impact since 2011,” said Gonzales.
Of the roughly half-million King Cakes sold in Carnival season, about 50-thousand are shipped out of state overnight, with the average cost being around $40. But for those that want to come into town for the festivities, Gonzales says visitors to New Orleans can expect to pay just shy of $300 per night to stay in the French Quarter.
“There are about 1.5 million visitors to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, so the population grows about four times, just for this time alone,” said Gonzales.
The average price to attend a Mardi Gras ball is about $190 a ticket. Gonzales says a VIP experience of riding on a float is upwards of $3000.
“People plan on spending about $500 for the average float rider. That’s on beads, cups, other types of spectator souvenirs, so it definitely does add up,” said Gonzales.
About 25 million pounds of beads are thrown during the celebrations. 92,000 pounds of beads are removed from storm drains after the celebration.
