Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser
While the fourth surge continues to impact Louisiana, the state tourism industry is showing better numbers and making its way back to pre-pandemic figures. Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser hopes the people of Louisiana will do everything to keep this trend going.
“We’ll be back to those regular rates sooner than we thought if we can get through this last surge without a major hit to the tourism industry,” Nungesser said.
With the recent sharp rise in COVID cases, plans outlined for Mardi-Gras, Jazz Fest, and tailgating are in jeopardy. Nungesser said that the state’s current vaccine rates have hindered the possibility for investment from outside parties.
“We know of one group that decided to go to Dallas instead of coming to New Orleans. That is the only definite that we are aware of. I’m sure it does have an effect when people are looking at planning a trip looking at where is the least risk,” Nungesser said.
Regardless of the cases, more people have embarked on road trips and the state parks have had their best year every with travelers taking advantage of the various trails. Nungesser said this is due partly to offering travelers a free fourth night when staying at the parks.
We’ve seen many, especially retired people, come to Louisiana, stay at several of the parks, eat and shop in those areas and move around Louisiana. So we’re going to continue to use our state parks to pull in here from the drive market,” Nungesser said.
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