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March 5, 2013
Despite a rough year, the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau has been named among the state’s outstanding bureaus by the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association.
Cajun Coast, at the direction of the St. Mary Parish Tourist Commission, was recognized as a state promotion leader among bureaus operating with a $250,000 to $750,000 budget.
Darienne Mobley, co-executive director of the LTPA, said Cajun Coast – one of 10 top bureaus to be awarded – went to great lengths to enhance the state’s $10.1 billion tourism industry. In Louisiana, one of every 11 citizens works in a tourism-related industry.
“They are the industry members who have tourism’s best interest in mind, and are among those we can depend on to advocate on the industry’s behalf,” she said.
The Cajun Coast bureau was dealt a major blow in June when its $3.8 million welcome center – a project nine years in the making – began sinking just 45 days away from opening.
“The past year was a busy one for the bureau’s staff,” Mobley said, acknowledging the incident. “They overcame a major crisis and also found time to partner with several organizations in and outside of St. Mary Parish to help with multiple events that brought visitors to the area.”
2012’s tourism victories include a Tarzan festival celebrating the first Tarzan movie, which was filmed in Morgan City in 1917.
“St. Mary Parish has great cultural stories that are different than any other parish in Louisiana,” Cajun Coast Executive Director Carrie Stansbury said. “We are the southernmost gateway to the Atchafalaya Basin; the largest overflow swamp in the United States; the native lands of the Chitimachas; the first chapter of the offshore oil and gas industry in Morgan City; rich in aviation history in Patterson; home to one of the most beautiful towns in Louisiana in Franklin; and we have a diverse ethnicity.
“The bureau earned the award based on the scope of work and the uncharted waters that we were forced to navigate after a major crisis that no bureau should have to experience.”
Slated to be a Cajun Cabin Welcome Center in the sky, the 16,000-square-foot facility began sinking from its pilings, coming to rest in the swamp below.
In February, the tourism board settled a $3.36 million agreement with the designer and builder, according to Gary McGoffin, Cajun Coast’s legal counsel. The settlement will pay for repairs, he said.
“Many have inquired as to the cause of the failure and who was at fault,” Stansbury said. “Instead, the board chose to focus on the solution to the problem.
“The bureau went from having one of the greatest years of accomplishments to one of the year’s greatest disasters,” she said. “The building’s foundation failure was featured throughout the state on most major networks, in newspapers and on radio stations. We were also featured on the MSN search engine as ‘weird news.’”
Stansbury said talk radio and social media comments were “ruthless.” “In spite of it all, the bureau is determined that we will get a building and that the reasons for building the Welcome Center and interpretive facility are as valid today as they were nine years ago when we started the process.
“We will turn this negative into a positive.”
Facing the criticism about the sinking site hasn’t been easy, but the Cajun Coast director said facing adversity has been an ongoing effort.
“It’s been hard,” she said. “There have been times when every member of the staff – including myself – wanted to scream, cry or take on the social media network, but we’ve managed to have those breakdowns in private. I’m very proud of the way our staff has handled a difficult situation.”
As the LTPA noted, the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau celebrated one of its most successful years, too, in 2012.
The bureau partnered with various organizations throughout St. Mary Parish including the Franklin Main Street’s annual Art Walk; the American Red Cross’ bicycle tour from Houston to New Orleans; the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival; the Franklin Main Street Merchant’s Association; Harvest Moon Festival; Morgan City Main Street; Patterson Cypress Sawmill Festival; Bayou Teche Bear Festival; and the Wooden Boat Show.
The bureau helped promote “Voices of the Past” in Franklin, as well as St. Mary Landmarks Society’s annual Tour of Homes and the Franklin Cemetery Tour, as well as the Cajun Coast Eagle Expo, which injected more than $109,000 in tourism money into the economy.
Collaborative efforts with St. Martin, St. Landry and Iberia parishes drew record crowds to the Tour du Teche the first weekend in October 2012.
Approximately 50,000 people visit St. Mary Parish yearly, according to stops recorded at the parish’s visitor center. Stansbury reasons that the number is much higher, since many visitors never announce their presence.
The Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau was recently named among the state’s top tourism bureaus of the year. At the award ceremony were, from left, center assistant Katie Tamporello, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, center Executive Director Carrie Stansbury, center supervisor Regina Wiese Wheeler, (back row, from left) St. Mary Parish Tourist Commission board member Al Kuhlman, commission treasurer Nelson Cortez and center office manager Carmen Duhamel.
