NEW ORLEANS – Nov. 15, 2011 – Frequent travelers in the Travel + Leisure (T+L) magazine 2011 America’s Favorite Cities survey voted New Orleans as the number one destination for live music/concerts and bands, wild weekends, cocktail hour, singles/bar scene, fine-dining restaurants, friendliest people, cafes, antique stores, flea markets and people-watching. T+L also found that New Orleanians are most proud of their city compared to residents of the other 34 cities in the survey.

"We are blessed with one of the most dynamic, rich and culturally diverse cities in the world,” said Mayor Landrieu. “In addition to hosting millions of leisure travelers, we look forward to hosting an unprecedented series of international events over the next 18 months and beyond, which gives us another opportunity to highlight our unique culture, cuisine, architecture and music.”

“The survey results remind us that residents of our city of 340,000 enjoy a cultural quality of life as do those in much larger cities because of the number of culinary, museum, nightlife, sporting and shopping assets made possible by the tourism industry,” said Stephen Perry, President and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Tourism supports thousands of small and mid-sized businesses and brings together neighborhoods in shared activities and iconic events, once created for locals, but now recognized by tourists as the best of any destination in the country.”

"These rankings help underscore the attractiveness that New Orleans continues to have for millions of travelers each year,” said Mark Romig, CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. “From the visitor who wants to explore the rich history of early New Orleans, or the family that wants to experience the culinary cornucopia of our more than 1,000 restaurants, to the visitor who wants to explore our many cultural assets, our city offers a uniqueness unlike any other American city."

The annual online survey appeared on travelandleisure.com from May 16, 2011, to August 15, 2011. Respondents were asked to identify if they were visitors or residents, then asked to rank their choice of 35 cities from across the country in different categories on culture, hotels, shopping, people, food and other characteristics. The survey features a total of 54 questions across eight categories. New Orleans and other Favorite Cities winners are featured in T + L magazine’s November 2011 issue.

Visitors ranked New Orleans in the top three in the following subcategories:

Shopping

Antique Stores (1)

Flea Markets (1)

Independent Boutiques (1)

Best Times to Visit

Christmas

New Year’s Eve

Fall

People

Diverse

Friendly (1)

Off-Beat (1)

Proud of their City (1)

Nightlife (1)

Singles/Bar Scene (1)

Live Music/Concerts and Bands (1)

Cocktail Hour (1)

Quality of Life and Visitor Experience

People-watching (1)

Lots of Hotel Options

Architecture/Cool Buildings

Type of Trip

Wild Weekend (1)

Food/Drink/Restaurants

Cafes (1)

Fine Dining Restaurants (1)

Ethnic Food

In addition to the honors voted by visitors, locals were also given the chance to tout their city and gave New Orleans a top three ranking in the following subcategories:

About New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation
The New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation promotes the city as a leisure tourism destination throughout the year. Annually, NOTMC’s marketing campaigns include strategic print, broadcast, and Internet advertising and public relations. Web sites: www.NewOrleansOnline.com; www.NewOrleansMuseums.com; www.RadioFreeNeworleans.com; www.gonola.com.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewOrleansOnline. Twitter: www.Twitter.com/visitneworleans.About The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau
The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau is a nationally accredited, 1,000-member destination marketing organization and the largest and most successful private economic development corporation in Louisiana. We help create $5 billion in new capital each year- more than any other business sector- by attracting millions of visitors, special events and conventions. The CVB and its members influence thousands of decision-makers and millions of visitors to choose New Orleans through direct sales, marketing, public relations, branding and visitor services at our New Orleans headquarters and offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago and four foreign countries. Consistently recognized as one of the top five CVBs in the country, the New Orleans CVB celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010. For more information, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com. Sam Ortiz

About Travel + Leisure
With an eye for the authentic, the innovative, and the irresistible, Travel + Leisure (www.travelandleisure.com, @travlandleisure) fuses expert reporting on culture, food, style, and design with stunning photography, transporting readers to the places—and the travel experiences—that matter now. T+L, the monthly title from American Express Publishing and the long-standing authority in its field, has the largest audience of any travel magazine and is an indispensable guide for global nomads. Travel + Leisure has a network of international editions, including Travel + Leisure Mexico, Travel + Leisure Turkey, Travel + Leisure China, Travel + Leisure South Asia, and Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia.

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for more information please contact the New Orleans Convention and Visitor Bureau