Oil spill squeezing La. tourism

William Clark Sr.
June 29, 2010
Senator baffled by Obama’s view on La. oil
July 1, 2010
William Clark Sr.
June 29, 2010
Senator baffled by Obama’s view on La. oil
July 1, 2010

With oil still gushing to the surface in the Gulf of Mexico, the Tri-parish’s economy has been in a virtual tailspin in recent weeks.


One industry to be smothered the tightest since the spill’s inception has been tourism.

And even when all the oil is off the water and everything is back to “normal,” local officials fear things still might not be the same.


“It’s hard to capture the true impact,” said Carrie Stansbury, executive director of the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau in St. Mary Parish. “We’ve taken a pretty big hit.”


Local tourism officials stress they do not know in terms of actual dollars and cents how much has gone by the wayside since the spill.

But they do know how long recovery will take considering the industry in the area was still reeling from Hurricane Katrina, which happened in 2005.


“We were just getting to the numbers that we were at pre-Katrina,” Stansbury said. “Prior to the oil explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, we were just starting to see our group tourists come back to Louisiana.”


One of the problems preventing the tourism industry from blossoming in the face of crisis is a lack of available rooms.

Hotels in the area are choked full with relief workers, which means that even if people wanted to come visit the Tri-parish area, they wouldn’t be guaranteed a place to stay.


“On one end, it looks like we’re not hurting, because our hotels are full,” said Kelly Gustafson, the communications manager at the Houma Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “But on the other end, we’re hurting badly because our attractions are suffering, and our long-term business stands to suffer because of not having availability because of the workers in the rooms.”


Stansbury agreed and said it will be impossible to operate at normal levels when there are not rooms to be filled.

“How do you tell a tourist to come and enjoy this attraction, eat at this restaurant, or experience this festival when your hotel rooms are filled?” she said. “That’s the level of challenge we face.”

Of an even greater concern is what might happen once the workers are gone. If people don’t then fill the hotel rooms, everything might eventually be lost.

“We definitely don’t turn people away if we don’t have a hotel room. We’d still love for people to come visit us, even if they have to stay in a neighboring area,” Gustafson said. “But that’s our No. 1 concern. The hotels going from 100 percent occupancy to zero percent occupancy is just a huge concern … Because the longer this goes, the more difficult it will be to capture that business back.”

BP has helped in the recovery efforts, and has donated money to tourism in Louisiana. The state cashed in their donation with a brand-new ad campaign trying to tell people that even without offshore fishing, Louisiana is an attractive destination.

But the problem, according to the tourism officials is the money will be needed more when the spill has reached its conclusion.

“The state is doing what it can, but perception is going to take a long time,” said Stansbury. “It’s long term that is the real problem … We know this is going to take 3-5 years.”

In the face of crisis, Carolyn Cheramie with the Bayou Lafourche Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau proposes a different way to support the business – with our own local dollars.

Cheramie said with tourism on the ropes, she urges everyone in our area to visit destinations they maybe have not seen even within their own parishes.

“Go on a swamp tour; they aren’t expensive. They are very economical,” she said. “Take your children to Laurel Valley … take them to the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center… If you’re from the northern part of the parish, how long has it been since you’ve taken a scenic drive to South Lafourche? Take your children visit the shrimp boats and oil vessels down the bayou. And the same goes if you’re from the southern part of the parish, go visit some of our wonderful destinations a little bit up the road.”

Togetherness, Cheramie touts, is the easiest way we can survive in what might play out as the most pressing economic disaster in our state’s history.

“Now is the time for us to support our own. People don’t realize the things that we do have here,” she said. “There are things that can still be done, and that’s what we’re trying to promote right now. In times like this, we have to take our blinders off and see what we have right here that perhaps we haven’t seen and our children haven’t seen.”