Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition 
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historic city preservation, in this case Charleston, SC, played two important roles: as a tourist attraction and a 
“symbolic community” important to the city’s identity. 
 
Katrina and its effects on New Orleans Tourism 
On August 29, 2006, the storm New Orleans always feared, Hurricane Katrina, roared ashore as a category 
three (winds of 111-130 mph) hurricane. Within hours, the levees that protect the city from the waters that surround 
it began to give way, and the bowl-shaped city began filling up. The flooding continued for two days until the water 
level in the city and Lake Pontchartrain reached equilibrium. The City of New Orleans was truly in a state of 
disaster. To make matters worse for the tourism industry, the national and international media was airing every 
detail, repeatedly. Not only was the physical infrastructure of the city being washed away by the storm and 
subsequent flooding, but also the perception of the city as a viable tourism destination was being eroded every time 
the negative images were replayed. “By virtue of the power of the media and the tendency for negative images to 
linger, the recovery of destinations usually takes longer than the period required for the restoration of services to 
normalcy” (Faulkner 2001: 142.). While perceptions of potential visitors to New Orleans is essential to building a 
favorable destination image it is important that residents of the city also perceive tourism as a viable industry in the 
post Katrina environment. Hurricane Katrina had a serious impact on the population of the New Orleans area (Table 
1) where in the city center, which represents the core of the tourism industry, the majority of the residents were 
African Americans. Although the tourism industry was a major employer in the city, it was evident that, as in other 
U.S. urban destinations, majority of the hourly wage employees were ethnic minorities and this distinction was also 
manifested in the immediate aftermath of Katrina when most of the people stranded in New Orleans were African 
Americans. Thus, it is also important to examine the differences in attitudes towards tourism of different ethnic 
groups that comprise post Katrina New Orleans.