Mark Romig discusses New Orleans tourism, covid impact, Miss Universe contest

ski publisher attorney and producer now tonight jaybat and I have the privilege to host this week's Louisiana conversation with two of the guys most well-known New Orleans natives the the first half hour starting now I guess is uh Mark Romig uh Marcus the chief marketing officer of New Orleans and Company and he's a stadium announcer for the New Orleans Saints and he's going to uh he's going to entertain us for a second as he did a few seconds ago now at 7 30 the world are now Vince Vance and Val and the valance Vince Vance uh who is a member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and he's going to join us with a few of his surprises so those watching uh please stick around for events uh like you've never seen him before he'll be here uh Jay it's great seeing you again and uh mark so take it over Jay hey thank you Stephen and Mark thanks so much for being with us this evening my pleasure it's great to be with both of you guys I haven't seen y'all in a while yes indeed I was telling Stephen earlier that um our families go back about uh seven eight nine decades at least our mothers were in each other's weddings yes I remember when he was chief of protocol at the World's Fair and what I remember you when you were a student in college oh yeah okay we don't need to go there okay okay no stories um but Mark with what you're doing for the city and promoting our city and the conventions talk to us about where we are given the uh climate we have you know we've gotten some you know dings on our media uh and with with our city and we've gotten some um I want to say uh not so promising and positive remarks from some of the media we all know we have a great City and it does every city needs help right now it seems like uh but I know you guys are still doing a great job uh booking the conventions and we haven't lost anything yet could you fill us in on where we are be happy to you know we are fighting against some headwinds like every other major destination in the United States uh coming out of covid there were there was a period of time where nobody was planning anything whether it was a meeting planner planning a invention or a trade show or a family deciding where they're going to visit so we're playing catch-up right now and and I'll bring you up to speed as to where we are compared to where we were in 2019. um it's a 24 7 type of job we have a staff of about 80 people uh and a majority of those people are sales people they're out and about around the world actually trying to convince people to come spend their money in our city and why we do that is because it we are an Economic Development Corporation if people come spend money in our city we're going to generate that spending which generates jobs which generates taxes and uh in retail and activity and helps our economy uh move forward New Orleans uh for what it's worth uh depends a lot on the tourism economy obviously we'd like a more shared value of our economy with other Industries but until we get there uh we we need to rely on the spending that comes in from hospitality and really no other City We Believe does it better than New Orleans uh it's always ranked as one of the most hospitable and from a standpoint of assets uh the culture bear is the number of people who are involved in in the industry who put forth the great restaurants and hotels and attractions and special events particularly our festivals uh we think we uh we we compete very very well uh it is uh difficult these days you know we've had obviously some news coming out of the city and and being sort of uh Amplified by others in the media um and we share those same problems with other major Urban centers and you know what we need to do is our job and that is to market the city and to you know we want to people we want people to come here have good memories of their visit spend enjoy themselves and most importantly share their visit with their friends and family and come back as often as possible New Orleans is very unique in that it's a city that has about 60 to 62 percent repeat visitation which means we've got people here who who know us who have come here often uh whether it's for a weekend trip a night trip to see a festival or a game or they're here for more than that for a period of time of time uh and so these people have been come have become really our best influencers and our best ambassadors that share the the great joy of New Orleans and so uh we keep pushing forward uh we invest where we can in improving the product uh over the last several years we've placed millions of dollars into additional security into the French Quarter for instance and working with the nopd who truly those men and women behind that badge do it better than anyone I know we're we're considered to be short staffed in some ways but they're building that back up I think the plan that's underway now we feel has great momentum and should do a much better job for us but we're going to continue doing our job and that is to push the City of New Orleans I shared with you all early and I think you you can play this for us whenever you have the moment we have a national um brand campaign out there across the country that's seen mainly digital and online streaming services that speaks to the the the the special nature of New Orleans we did research and and we never put any creative out unless we've done some research behind it to show that it's going to work for us and what we found out is coming out of covid what people needed more than anything else was to be with inspirational people to feel like they could get out of themselves get out of their homes and and become well again and and to be inspired and so our research drove us to the the national brand campaign that is now being seen uh and Stephen are you able to to tee that up for us and show it right and we got a lot of inspirational people in our city for darn sure that's right you're sure about that Jay and this was shot locally with a local production crew and I think that your viewers May recognize some of the faces in this commercial okay before I start uh those people uh comment below uh and please uh we we want to hear from you so please go ahead and comment uh and we'll take your your your your your questions your comments Etc so here it goes let me start it here it's called plus one [Music] oh yeah [Music] forever [Applause] I think that's a very important tag line at the end the people of New Orleans are why you visit New Orleans when you think about our hotels our attractions our restaurants our musicians our artists um the the common denominator is the person and the people that make up the City of New Orleans and so our research drove us right to this message and this is resonating so well I mean there are so many great stories that have come out of the city of New Orleans so you know we used to have a campaign called one time in New Orleans uh and it was a an homage to all the great things and you know there are other hard and sad things that have happened in the city in the past but you know you need to talk about it and that helps people grow and we think this commercial has has given people the inspiration that in New Orleans everyone's invited to our table no matter the color no matter what neighborhood you're from everyone's invited and when you are invited and you're at that table you're going to have a blast and you look around that table in that commercial and by the way there's a VR component of that of virtual real reality component which you can see on YouTube where you're really into that dinner party and you're really getting an understanding as to what's going on and then you take a deeper dive into the Mardi Gras Indian and to be Mike the artist and to my the Vietnamese fisherwoman off of Paris Road and into Stanton Moore from Galactica who owns tit patinas and you understand the richness of our culture so we're very pleased with the reception that's receiving and again the visitors are coming to the city those that Noah's are coming back and we want to inspire those that haven't been here yet to come give us a chance you know our people of New Orleans of New Orleans are so accepting and have been for the you know multiple generations and that's one of the reasons why we've survived and have done so well even when there's been political Strife back in the 60s our cities were not our neighborhoods were not burned down uh we talked about things we worked through things and we've that's why I think we're where we are in terms of being accepting and what you're saying everybody's welcome at the table that's a good point Jay you know with everything that's occurred recently whether it's the uh the decision on Roe v Wade which you know everyone their people on both sides of that or as it relates to any of the other social issues what we're saying is that you know you can come to New Orleans and hash those things out everyone everyone who in every opinion is is welcomed here in the City of New Orleans and you know there's a ulterior motive to that our visitation supports these jobs that are involved in the hospitality industry and there are some great careers that people can can make in the in the industry and so we want people to to uh you know put their feelings aside know that New Orleans is going to be a very hospitable place to visit and we've got so much so much richness I mean the national World War II museum is opening up a new exhibit on November the 11th called expressions of America it's going to be a state-of-the-art sound and light experience that you're not going to want to miss we are partnering with them to market now around the region including Chicago and Atlanta to invite people to come into the city to experience the national World War II museum we've got the aquarium that'll be opening uh their new kind of Revisited Aquarium of the Americas they're renovating the entire plant come mid-year of 2023 that's going to be a spectacular new facility in many ways even though it's been around in almost 30 years right if not more and that's going to be another reason to visit the City of New Orleans as the the new Four Seasons Hotel the Virgin Hotel all the other opportunities that people have to come and experience the city and we like to say that New Orleans is built to host our Convention Center along with our department of convention strategies has come up with this shared message that New Orleans is really the best city to host because why it's walkable the transportation is easy you don't have to go more than a mile and a half or two miles to get one of the best meals you'll get in the nation and uh and we've got the people behind it which is I think the magic to the sauce may I Ed and I know you have a bias as well but uh may I add also we have two of the great parks in America with Audubon and City Park I was coming to that City Park um is is the magic of the city when it when you related to parks in America um it has everything going forward uh it has not only the outdoor activities it's got the beauty it's got the museum the Fine Arts uh it's visitor friendly uh you don't find a fence around city park you found you find openness and oak trees some of the most historic Oaks in the United States or at city park and then add it to what I call its little sister Audubon Park there you go I don't know I don't know if Ron would agree with me I was about to say I don't think Ronald like that but yeah he won't like that but you know they they both share terrific assets of of the air the oak trees the the beautiful Greenery and the opportunities for families to get together and and and share and be together so um there is so much going on and I think what we when I remember that New Orleans is worth fighting for you know we have our ups and downs and there are issues whether it's on the the political side or infrastructure side you know we've been around 304 plus years we'll get through this and I think we all need to kind of be pulling on the same side of the rope and and we'll make it happen I'm with you mark 100 by the way during covid those two parks really stepped up their game the visitation of city park during covert was up to 12 million people uh annually which is crazy when you think about what's in our MSA in terms of population it really is you know what Bob Becker did and now uh with the new management that's Carol Lambright and yeah Carrie's done a fantastic job she brought so much experience from her previous work in Houston um that Park is I think it is truly uh the gem of the South and and I'm looking forward to promoting it you know interesting y'all probably heard we've got Miss Universe coming in January January 14th we'll have the international competition pageant of Miss Universe uh it's going to bring a half a billion people viewing now it it's it's huge outside of the United States of America much larger audience outside the United States of America even though Miss USA competes in this pageant the Asian market South American Market the European market this is a huge event and for about two weeks prior to January 14th we're going to have all these contestants coming through the city of New Orleans doing all sorts of events the current Miss Universe coming out of India has 500 million followers excuse me I overestimated it five million followers we've got five reasons but five million followers she's going to be tweeting actively and on Instagram throughout the entire visit that she makes as the returning Miss Universe so between the 500 million people watching on Telemundo and streaming and other opportunities to watch The Pageant itself all the great scenes that we're going to be showing from the New Orleans area and of course the reigning Miss Universe with their five million followers it's it's another another opportunity for us to tell the story of New Orleans Mark when was the last time a citizen of the United States was Miss Universe you remember I can't even you know I I don't know I I wish I could tell you that but uh I think it was Linda Carter Wonder Woman I think but I could be wrong it's gonna be well represented and uh we're so happy it's we see this as an opportunity we the convention center everything kind of worked out well the convention center had an opening that we could fill this uh for January 14th we've been talking to the Miss Universe people since late summer and it was a perfect marriage so that's going to work well and then look we go into the new year with 144 festivals on the books um okay back up real quick how many festivals were there around when you and I were growing up Mark I mean I went to the I remember going to the Jazz Fest when it first started he said there was Saint Dominic's uh Parish Fair of course there was a cool do you remember the cool jazz festival that was on the city park driving range I saw Barry White there back inside you just you've just aged both of us seven in January and you're gonna be what 78 in uh oh yeah you stop yourself I'm 62 in December thank you sir all right you know John Jordan Once Upon a Time he was the youngest one on the uh on the screen here well you know John George is in his paper a few years back suggested and where his reporter put in there that Brian was my son I had to had him do a retraction uh yeah but then Brian write a letter to the editor saying that he retreated but back to the business here um I just want to explain New Orleans and Company uh New Orleans is um Hospital Valley industry sales and marketing organization it we what we do is compete with the Charleston's the Nationals the Austin's the Las Vegas and Chicago's New York Miami's to get visitor spending uh people only have so many weeks in the year and so many dollars in the wallet and so our job is to try to funnel and focus those destination decisions into our into our city you know with the new airport uh it's made a world of a difference I know they're they can continue to improve operations out there there are more things that they're going to be doing uh that has been very helpful uh I think we've got you know a good healthy amount of the Uber Lyft the the ride share that was one of the big issues coming out of Katrina was to give people more Transportation options uh I think the the streetcar the most iconic you know streetcar in the United States um and this walkable city um sure there's a lot more that we can do and and we've got to do to fix things uh but we're committed our team our 80 plus people at New Orleans and Company are going to keep doing our job to to do what we can do about that y'all doing a spectacular job just totally spectacular like you know we got we got a transition happening Stephen Perry who's been serving as president CEO for the last 20 plus years will be uh passing the Baton to Walt Legend who is going to be uh the new president CEO he's now the incoming president and general counsel Wald who is a native of Saint Bernard Parish and he's coming in to lead the way he was the speaker Pro tem for the House of Representatives very talented young man very very passionate he's got two young girls he wants to be in New Orleans for his life and he wants to raise those girls in a great City and and he's totally committed to uh to doing great things and and really picking up where Stephen left off Stephen brought us through so many challenges and got us through so many issues and now uh as Stephen goes to begin his second chapter or his third chapter um I think he's leaving Walt in good good shape there I I agree with you I'm a big fan of Stephen Perry's I think he's done a masterful job leading the organization and are sharing with tourism uh yeah yeah he had great training when he was with Governor Foster when we used to call him Governor Perry that's right that's right yeah you know Stephen was part of the the building of the Smoothie King Center yeah uh he helped renegotiate this the the Saints uh to stay in Louisiana I mean this there's just been some great things under Stevens tutelage including getting us through Katrina the BP oil spill uh it was under his uh Helm that we were able to get through covid covet was just a devastating blow to everybody in the nation everybody in the world for that matter right Stephen got us through that and has left us in good shape going forward so tell me something Mark can I have one question for you um if you had a magic wand and you could fix one thing in our city that that would help our tourism business uh and and grow it exponentially that we needed to do that we could share with other people that are listening tonight um what would that be you know it's it sounds pretty simple but I would say that we need to be thinking that the glass is half full and not half empty uh uh I think like that anyway but yes I agree with you buddy to help Elevate the conversation um to quit quit trolling on ourselves to quit being so down uh sure we've got our problems you know it's interesting we talked to visitors we talk to Meeting Planners uh and we probe them as to what they're thinking and what they're feeling and they we get the same reaction for the most part that yeah we we see that we we see the homeless we see the the graffiti we see uh you know some litter but we see it in our own Hometown what y'all present that we can't find in any other city is the wonderful hospitality and the people that are making this thing happen and our culture our culture you're right the culture bearers who each and every day get up and do their magic they make their music they make the art they they become the the black Indian uh tribes that they're they're putting the suits together each and every year for a whole new uh presentation each and every year these are the people who live and breathe it and I think if we could be more joyful about what we have and how resilient we have been I think that would help Elevate everyone's mood and and uh process I'm I just cannot I can't fathom Downing the City of New Orleans when as New Orleans goes so goes the state of Louisiana You're darn right so we've got to be our own cheerleaders even though when the the Knights of the darkest uh we've got to bring some light to it and we can do that in our own and it's not Pollyanna I think it's it's a responsible thing for us to be more uh optimistic about what we can achieve um you know officials come and go we are here right we're going to make this thing work and everyone with the right attitude can make this thing work so we have uh let me interrupt and just say that we have a comment from Ann Kiefer you all know Ann yeah hi guys um you know and so please anybody who wants a comment go ahead and comment Mark when are you going to give us your uh this the same rendition of uh your your you've got a much bigger celebrity a celebrity Beyond extremes coming after me so I want to get off the stage here real quick but you know real quick my dad was a Saints announcer for 44 years he started in 1969. he went all the way to the preseason of 2013. one thing about Dad he was very persistent and consistent he never missed a game 446 consecutive games Jay knew him as Uncle Jerry yep he went to 446 consecutive games when he had the source of throats when he had the flu he announced the games which means my mother went to about 446 games as well so she's all the unsung heroes um but then in 2013 he passes the mic on uh because he and I share a same deviated septum and we sound similar the Saints didn't want to change the kind of the mood and the tone and the don't ask me to step up and so I did the secret to that I used to leave the games early back in the day when Dad was announcing and when I could leave the game early when you probably wanted to leave the game early uh before Mr Benson bought the team but and that would always kind of drive my mom crazy that you know she had to stay but we could leave so the first call I got from was from my mom and she said well you know Mark now that you're gonna be the Saints announcer you have to stay the whole game I said yes ma'am I I and she said you better sound like your father and dad then pulled me aside and goes Sons you just sound like yourself but what I've been able to do is try to mimic some of his calls and those would be things like first down it's good you know for a field goal or a touchdown touchdown yeah but the one I've really helped kind of create uh and we did it in London the Saints invited me to come to London and to um announce the game in London the Saints was they were the home team and so when it was appropriate when the Vikings were on a third down I wasn't able to do yes sir foreign [Music] I think we drove the British people crazy because they were trying to figure out what that was all about but then through the course of the game I was hearing from Friends saying there are a lot of people around here who are British who are now saying it's third down as well as moved damn so it was great those of you who watched it on television that morning that Sunday morning hopefully he heard us come through the through the sound system of the your television sets it was a lot of fun it was a lot of fun I'll tell you and and also uh Stephen I don't know if you're aware that other listeners is that the Roman family have been involved as a family with the Saints for a gazillion years as well yeah he's 46 years there as the uh he's the longest serving employee now he's the executive uh director of administration I believe that's his right title and he's responsible for us a lot of facets of the internal operation including um he handles the facility he works with Mrs Benson uh he works with the security teams um so yeah Jay Jay has a lot of uh he has a lot of keys as I say don't you have a don't you have a couple of uh family members spotting you I'm getting there 30 years spotting she is the one that Whispers In Your Ear to tell you what happened on the field so that we sound like we know what we're talking about she did it for Dad for uh 20 years and now she's been doing it for me for 10 years so yeah my Beth is really she's the smartest one as a relates to football I can tell you oh really My Brother Jay too so I'm going to play the commercial once again if you don't mind okay that's fine it's a good way to go out yeah well why don't you stay a little while and chat with Vince when he comes in I can introduce Vince for you if you like yeah there it is there it is okay so hold on let's see let me go ahead and we got a lot of hungry people tonight I want the fish in the oven [Music] beautiful Mardi Gras crazy [Music] basic error food [Music] I want to be part of that dinner party me too dinner party I'm hungry in New Orleans and all the thousands of restaurants we have you can do it oh okay so we've been 34 states 30 countries released I forgot the number I think it's 30 albums played twice at the White House I mean that's just your your resume is unbelievable 7 500 shows are you ready that's that's really awesome here it is

2022-11-01 19:19

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