Nungesser in Morgan City: Tourists coming back to La.

Louisiana tourism hasn’t rebounded all the way to pre-pandemic levels. But visitors are on their way back, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser told a St. Mary Chamber Business Luncheon audience Wednesday, with the help of a very long alligator, some London taxicabs and the Louisiana Legislature.

“I’m so impressed where we are today, coming back from COVID,” said Nungesser, whose office makes him head of the state’s Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

Before COVID, Louisiana enjoyed its eighth straight record-breaking tourism year with more than 53 million visitors who spent $18.9 billion, according to the Louisiana Travel Association. That spending led to the employment of more than 24,000 Louisiana people.

Restaurants, hotels and other business sectors related to tourism were hammered by the COVID restrictions of 2020. But the number of visitors rose again to 41 million in 2021.

Nungesser won’t be around for Morgan City’s biggest tourism event, the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, this weekend. He’s scheduled to perform the coin toss at Sunday’s Florida State-LSU football game.

But he talked about the importance of local festivals and thanked state legislators for coming up with money to promote them.

“Coming out of COVID, nobody has money to market their business,” Nungesser said.

The long alligator was a parade float, Louisiana’s first-ever entry in the 2021 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. The float, and some TV commercials with close-ups of the alligator’s eye and a warning that “Louisiana is coming” attracted positive attention for the state.

The “Celebration Gator” was the longest float in parade history at 60 feet and was seen by an audience estimated at 1.5 billion.

Then it was on to the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena. The “Feed Your Soul” float was the only float in the parade representing a single state. Its riders included first responders, among them Dr. Brian Bonin of Thibodaux Regional Medical Center; a teacher of the year, pageant queens; and Cajun Navy founder Todd Terrell.

Also, Louisiana decorations on London taxicabs helped attracted 6,000 visitors, Nungesser said.

Other tourism developments, Nungesser said:

—Louisiana’s Civil Rights Trail, which Nungesser started based on similar projects elsewhere in the South, had its first three markers in 2021. Now there are nine markers.

—State parks enjoyed their best year ever in 2021, and seven parks were in the black for the first time.

—The Office of Culture, Recreation and Tourism is negotiating jurisdiction over state museums with the Secretary of State’s Office. Each state museum will soon be the subject of a video that Nungesser
hopes will attract interest from history buffs.

—Trailers that can be moved to state parks when events are scheduled nearby can generate rental income, Nungesser said. They can also be used by families driven from their homes by natural disasters.

—Boats will make Poverty Point World Heritage Site more accessible to tourists. The site consists of a 72-foot mound and concentric earthen circles built by people who lived in northeast Louisiana up to 3,400 years ago.

Also at Wednesday’s Luncheon:

—Twin City Funeral Home was named Business of the Month, and Gabrielle LeMaire of Pelican Companies and Lake End Rentals was named Administrative Assistant of the Month.

—U.S. Rep. Garret Graves introduced himself to the luncheon audience. The redistricting that followed the 2020 Census put Amelia and eastern Morgan City into the 6th Congressional District now represented by Graves, R-Baton Rouge. The rest of the parish remains in the 3rd District, represented by Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette.

Graves pointed to the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival and noted that local shrimpers face competition from imports without adequate inspection.

And “we’ve got this administration coming in and saying we’re not going to produce any more oil in the Gulf,” Graves said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Some domestic shrimp producers say the imported product is often loaded with antibiotics used to limit loss to disease in farm-raised shrimp.

The Biden administration has sought to limit new offshore oil leases as a means of reducing carbon emissions.