Friday, 18 March 2016

What's New in New Orleans' Hospitality Industry – March 2016

  • New Orleans was named one of the “Best Cities in North America” by readers of Travel + Leisure as part of the magazine's annual World's Best Awards.
  • New Orleans was ranked No. 2, second only to Charleston and ranking above New York, San Francisco and Chicago.
  • This is the third consecutive year that New Orleans has garnered a No. 2 spot on the list, ranking number one for nightlife and number two for dining overall.
  • Construction has begun on a new terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, set to debut in 2018.
  • This $826 million project will feature 30 gates, a 2,000-car parking garage, a central utility plant and a ground transportation staging area.
  • The new terminal is projected to have a $3.2 billion annual economic impact on tourism in New Orleans.
  • Two new hotel brands will debut in New Orleans' Central Business District this spring:
  • The Ace Hotel New Orleans will debut on March 14 in a historic 1928 Art Deco building with 234 rooms.
  • The hotel's signature restaurant will be called Josephine Estelle and is the brainchild of Memphis James Beard Award finalists Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman. Phillip Mariano, former chef de cuisine of Domenica, will serve as executive chef of Josephine Estelle, blending flavors of the American South with Italian influence
  • The hotel will also feature Stumptown Coffee Roasters with the lauded coffee brand's first café in the south.
  • Marriott Hotels' Moxy New Orleanswill debut in the Crescent City in April 2016 as one of the first U.S. locations of the hip European hotel line. Moxy New Orleans will feature 108 keyless-entry rooms in New Orleans' Central Business District.
  • The hotel brand aims to appeal to millennial travelers with inviting lobbies, self-service grab and go, free Wi-Fi and the Moxy Digital Guestbook for streaming videos and pictures
  • The openings of the Moxy Tempe in March and the Moxy New Orleans are the brand's first in the U.S.
  • Spring marks the kickoff of festival season in New Orleans, with nationally acclaimed festivals taking the stage.
  • French Quarter Festival,the largest free music festival in the U.S., will kick off with 23 stages throughout the French Quarter April 7-10, featuring 1,700 musicians from every musical genre and more than 400 hours of live music.
  • More than two dozen new artists are making their French Quarter Festival debuts, including Cowboy Mouth, Buckwheat Zydeco and Sonny Landreth.
  • Other artists returning to the festival include Charmaine Neville, Treme Brass Band, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Amanda Shaw, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns and many more.
  • The acclaimed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festivalwill return to the Fair Grounds Race Course for two weekends of both national and local live music April 22-24 and April 28-May 1.
  • Headliners include Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paul Simon, Snoop Dog and many more.
  • Local favorites at Jazz Fest this year include Irma Thomas, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Aaron Neville, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, and Grammy Award-winning Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

  • China Lights, an exhibition of more than 30 brightly lit silk covered structures, has debuted at New Orleans City Park's Botanical Garden, showcasing the work of more than 100 artisans from Sichuan Tianyu in Zigong, China.
  • China Lights includes a glowing 192-foot long dragon, a three-story lit-from-within pagoda tower, hundreds of lanterns and more.
  • The exhibition has been held across Europe and in other U.S. cities, most recently in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Spokane, Washington.
  • The exhibition will continue through May 1, 2016, open Tuesday-Sunday
  • It's a busy spring in New Orleans for local entrepreneurs and business leaders:
  • The eighth annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week will return to New Orleans March 11-18, 2016, bringing eight days of summits, showcases, panels, workshops and competitions to the Crescent City.
  • Programming includes 106 unique events, ranging from a Civic Innovation Summit held by Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the City of New Orleans to GNO, Inc.'s IDEAtour to recruit high-growth companies to the Greater New Orleans area.
  • As part of the programming, Idea Village will produce the freeElevate-Empower-Engage: Women's Business Summit on March 17th, giving the female business community the opportunity to convene on what it means to be locally significant and globally relevant from experts in the field.
  • Idea Village, a nonprofit promoting entrepreneurship in New Orleans, is partnering with leaders of six other startup hubs in the U.S. to showcase entrepreneurs from each community and attract investment for ventures in those regions.
  • Select entrepreneurs from New Orleans, Buffalo, Charleston, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham and San Antonio will participate in the Launch Pad PITCH, a March Madness-style pitch competition at the Collision global tech conference in New Orleans in April 2016. Winners will present to an audience of global investors.
The month of March marks the kickoff of festival season in New Orleans:
  • The 38th annual Allstate Sugar Bowl Crescent City Classic 10k will race through the Big Easy on March 26 with a popular post-race party featuring live music and local Creole cuisine.
  • The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary March 30-April 3, featuring a week of panels, theatrical events, tours and more in honor of New Orleans' literary history.
  • New Orleans is home to more than 129 annual festivals, most of which occur throughout the year.
  • Other festivals on the horizon include:
  • Hogs for the Cause, the annual fundraising barbecue competition and music festival, returns to New Orleans City Park April 1-2 to benefit families with children fighting pediatric brain cancer.
  • The dog-friendly Brunch Fest NOLA will debut in New Orleans City Park on April 3 with brunch dishes and cocktails, a Bloody Mary Contest and opportunities to adopt animals all to benefit the Louisiana SPCA.
  • The inaugural NOLA Crawfish Festival, the newest addition to New Orleans' festival calendar, will take place April 25-27 at the NOLA Brewing Tap Room, offering a mini-festival of boiled crawfish and performances by local musicians.
  • The Jazz in the Park Treme Art & Music Festival will debut May 6-8, featuring two main stages of live music, marching bands, second lines, local food and crafts and more in Armstrong Park.
  • For a full list of festivals, click here.

HOTELS

  • The Henry Howard Hotel has debuted in New Orleans' Garden District, featuring 18 rooms housed in a historic mansion constructed in 1867.
  • Named for the man who built the mansion, the Henry Howard Hotel was purchased by the Fitzgerald Hotel Group in 2015 and was reimagined as a luxury boutique hotel.
  • Hotel 504 has opened in the heart of New Orleans' Medical District, just steps from the French Quarter.
  • Formerly a Clarion property, Hotel 504 has reopened under Performance Hospitality and offers meeting and event space.
  • Historic French Quarter hotel Chateau LeMoyne has completed its eight-month renovation, with updates to the hotel's 171 guest rooms, lobby, event spaces, courtyard and pool.
  • Named for founder of New Orleans Jean Baptiste LeMoyne, the hotel features 30 rooms with balconies overlooking the French Quarter, 11 historic suites and 2,000 square feet of versatile event space.
  • The Hyatt House New Orleans/Downtown debuted in New Orleans' Central Business District in November 2015, bringing 194 extended-stay hotel rooms to the downtown area.
  • Situated along the expanding Loyola Avenue streetcar line, the hotel is at the heart of New Orleans' Sports and Entertainment District and is also just steps away from the French Quarter and burgeoning BioDistrict.

AWARDS

New Orleans continues to garner international attention as a world-class destination. Recent honors include:

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