LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR NUNGESSER LEADS MISSION TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND TO INCREASE INTERNATIONAL TOURISM
Mission to promote international travel to Louisiana in conjunction with Travel South USA
BATON ROUGE, La. – Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and members of the Louisiana Office of Tourism will join other state tourism offices through Travel South USA for a mission to Australia and New Zealand to promote international travel to Louisiana. The group departs Saturday, June 10, and returns Saturday, June 24, 2023.
Australia is a top 15 market of origin for people coming to visit Louisiana. Of the 53 million visitors who came to Louisiana in 2019 prior to the pandemic, more than 38,000 were from Australia and generated $62.6 million in visitor spending. Louisiana Office of Tourism data shows Australian visitors stay an average of nine days in our state.
“We have a real opportunity to build a relationship with tour operators and capture both the Australian and New Zealand markets. It’s important because our international travelers tend to stay longer and spend more money,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser.
In addition to meeting with travel journalists and participating in trade shows, Lt. Governor Nungesser will hold discussions about film location tourism as well as a meeting with tour operators that promote the most successful international men’s rugby team of all time – The All Blacks Rugby Team. Louisiana is under consideration to host the men/women Rugby World Cup games in 2031 and 2033.
“Our strong success in the international market over the last several years led to Louisiana being one of six states to receive a $300,000 grant that is being used to increase promotion in three emerging international markets – India, Italy, and Spain. While we decide which international markets each year to focus our promotion of Louisiana, this grant allows us to open our doors to additional areas, such as Australia, that will help increase international visitation to our state,” said Lt. Governor Nungesser.
Louisiana’s top international markets include Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, and France.