Visit New Orleans is celebrating its remarkable revival 20 years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Not content to simply rebuild its devastated community after Katrina, which in August 2005 killed 1,392 people and caused damage estimated at US$125 billion, the city is reaching out to help other destinations hit by natural disasters.
Since Katrina, billions of dollars of investment in the city resulted in a new airport, hotels and attractions, and a riverfront transformation.
New Orleans went from an all-time low of 3.7 million visitors in 2006, in the aftermath of Katrina, to a record-breaking 19 million visitors in 2019, a number achieved again in 2024 following COVID recovery.
August saw the launch of the Amtrak Mardi Gras service rail line connecting New Orleans and Mobile, with stops in Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Gulfport and Pascagoula.
The US$1 billion River District is a 39-acre mixed-use neighbourhood adjacent to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Centre with offices and residential areas complemented by entertainment venues, cultural centres, retail, dining and public green space.
New Orleans now uses its experiences from Katrina to help other destinations to rebuild their own tourism industries after disaster, including wildfires in Hawaii; a typhoon in the Philippines; Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, and Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.