Gulf Coast Recovery By John Kloster

                                                                                         

The Gulf Coast was hit twice by hurricanes this fall, first by Katrina and then by Rita. This update is intended to examine the affected areas in the four states from the perspective of a group travel planner.Katrina hit first and extended from New Orleans to the Alabama coast. Then Hurricane Rita hit southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas. We discovered that many areas are open for tourists, with adequate infrastructure of hotels,restaurants and attractions.



Louisiana


The New Orleans area was hit hard by Katrina, but most devastated areas were residential. The central business district, Garden District and French Quarter suffered little structural damage. At press time, the city reports 20,000 rooms available and general availability for tourists. According to Kim Priez, Vice President of Tourism for the Greater New Orleans CVB, “We have restaurants, attractions and hotels coming online every day. Service levels are low because of the shortage of workers and it’s going to be a long road as far as getting workers back.” Some hotels are offering full service levels for tourists and limited service for emergency workers. She reports that the city is targeting the first of January as the date that the city will begin an active push to bring tourists and conventioneers back to the city.



Alabama


Starting in the east and working west, the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach areas had minimal damage. However, some businesses are still cleaning up from Hurricane Ivan last year. Mobile was partially sheltered by its location, set back from the gulf on Mobile Bay. More than 90% of its hotels are fully operational, according to Rosemary Judkins, Group Travel Manager of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel. The only attraction to have suffered serious damage is the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial, which is closed indefinitely. The ship was tilted at an angle and needs to be righted. The walkway to the ship was destroyed and the building that houses the aircraft collection was seriously damaged.



Mississippi


The Biloxi and Gulfport areas,well as gulf-front communities west were devastated. At press time, “There is little room availability in the southern half of the state, other than in B&Bs,”according to Steve Martin from the state tourism office. In Biloxi and Gulfport, the vast majority of the buildings close to the water have been destroyed. The Isle of Capri,Palace and Imperial Palace casino hotels are open. They have very little room availability, due to emergency workers. There are many restaurants open and visitors can still enjoy fishing and golf.

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