Lafourche Tourism wins Convention Bureau of the Year

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Up and down the bayou isn’t just a local term anymore.

The state tourist commission awarded Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou, (the Lafourche Parish tourist commission), Convention Bureau of the Year.

The Louisiana Travel Promotion Association, known by those in tourism industry as LTPA, said Lafourche Cajuns garnered the honor, among tourist commissions whose budget is between $500,000 to $999,000.


Timothy Bush, president and chief executive officer of Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou, said the honor is incredible for the parish’s tourism team.

“Last year was such a ground breaking year for our organization with the launch of the Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou brand, as well as commitment in sharing that brand story with visitors,” Bush said.

“We are deeply humbled and honored to receive this award because it recognizes our community’s work in promoting tourism.”


Bush said the parish tourist commission is the destination management organization, dedicated to positioning Lafourche Parish as a regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized year-round tourist destination.

“We develop quality marketing programs and events to attract visitors and stimulate economic development and growth,” he said.

Tourists spent $77.3 million in Lafourche Parish in 2017, generating $10 million in local and state taxes, Bush said.


Tourism also supports 560 jobs in Lafourche Parish.

The efforts of Bush’s team resulted in a 260 percent increase in website traffic.

Visitors also showed a strong intent to visit by requesting or downloading over 1,500 visitor’s guides, a 146 percent increase over 2016.


Marguerite Knight Erwin, chairman of the tourist commission board, said she felt honored and appreciative of Bush and the team’s work.

“This speaks to the wonderful work being done by Timothy and his team to continue building Lafourche Parish as regional and national destination for visitors,” Erwin said.

Monique Crochet, another member of the tourism board, said Bush is professionally committed to his work.


“I’ve known Timothy since he first came to Lafourche Parish and he is truly a professional, committed to helping showcase all that our wonderful parish has to offer. This a wonderful accomplishment for Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou,” Crochet said.

Jeremy Punch, secretary-treasurer of the board, said it’s all about recognition for the parish, and this award is the top.

“This is great recognition for Lafourche Parish. It highlights the work being done by our tourism team and their commitment to adding economic value to our local economy through tourism,” he said.


Bush credits the commission’s new website design as one of the carrots for the parish garnering the honor.

“Our website underwent a complete redesign to capture the essence of the brand, ” he said, noting that its presents a highly visible, easy to navigate overview of the destination, generating user engagement.

“It entices users to plan a trip here. We placed strong focus on the areas of our site that we knew visitors were most interested in such as festival and events, and made it a main section of our homepage,” he said.


Bush said 2018 will hopefully see completion of a renovation project at the visitor’s center, a true interpretive exhibit. The finished design will feature a space to interact with the brand, virtual reality and serve as the central point for visitors to learn about the experiences found up and down the Bayou in Lafourche.

Lafourche Convention Bureau