can I ask a ???

[carolfoy]

The BBC has a holiday programme which of course shows ideas for holidays, just recently they did a 'back to New Orleans' trip and the guest presenter (very distinguished newsreader to try and add sincerity I guess) did the usual waffle on how the place was devastated etc then proceeded to take part in a tour of the worst hit places. The tour guide was a NO local and had obviously lost friends and family as well as material possessions during those terrible days, and she naturally got quite upset whilst showing the tourists parts of her city and explaining how they used to be before Katrina.
My question is, How do the locals feel about these tours? is it seen as 'car crash' observations? Do people object against these or are they happy to get tourists back no matter what the reason?

I'm also asking as I'm a travel agent and would like to advise clients accordingly when they ask if they can go view these devastated areas.

 

[Muffin]

Hi carolfoy,
I've seen differing reactions from residents of the hardest hit areas. Some do want people to tour so that the message is still getting about the extreme devastation and need for assistance.

On the other hands, some residents don't want people gawking.

Unfortunately, there's not a simple answer to your question.

 

[MrsKreamer]

Hi carolfoy,
I've seen differing reactions from residents of the hardest hit areas. Some do want people to tour so that the message is still getting about the extreme devastation and need for assistance.

On the other hands, some residents don't want people gawking.

Unfortunately, there's not a simple answer to your question.

Very well said!

 

[carolfoy]

Thanks so much for your replies, I understand you were both affected by this terrible disaster. I particularly remember watching the 'Wheres Stephanie?' Thread during the days straight after. I hope you and your loved ones are all recovering well.

I guess its one of those things where only time will tell if the city will ever get back to 'normal' after. I do wish I had visited this area and was planning to do so this April but then changed my plans to Vegas/Grand Canyon (which we did before Katrina) I do hope to visit at some point in the future.
Again, wishing you and yours well, and congratulations Stephanie on your bump.

 

[arminnie]

Hi carolfoy,
I've seen differing reactions from residents of the hardest hit areas. Some do want people to tour so that the message is still getting about the extreme devastation and need for assistance.

On the other hands, some residents don't want people gawking.

Unfortunately, there's not a simple answer to your question.

I agree. I didn't go over into the lower 9th ward until last month as I was afraid of just being a sightseer. It was a real mind opener. It is almost impossible to describe the devastation in that part of the city (and in some of the other areas).

I've seen houses with high water marks on them that were just ruined by the high waters, but when I went to the Lower 9th Ward the houses were like pickup sticks that had been thrown a block away. No gutting of those homes. They are not even standing.

But I have to add here that you are very welcome (and needed) to come visit in New Orleans. The French Quarter, Uptown and Garden Districts had much less damage - wind damage, no flooding.

It truly is a tale of two cities right now. I live in the Uptown part. I had very, very minor damage. My neighborhood is probably 90% normal. I live on St. Charles Avenue (where the main streetcar line is).

Probably 80-90% of the areas that you would have visited as a tourist are up and operating. Not at full speed, but definitely open.

The St. Charles Street cars will not be operational until late this year or early next year, but there's a free bus for now. Some restaurants and other facilities have used this as a time to totally remodel - hard to do while operating.

The majority of the "name" restaurants are operating. Commander's Palace (my all time favorite) will be back open in a couple of months.

Please come visit and send others here. We need the tourists, and they will be able to have a good time.

I've lived in New York, London, San Francisco and several other major cities, but I can truly say that New Orleans is the most unique city I've ever visited.

Thanks for your concern.

 

[carolfoy]

Thank you for your input Arminnie, I will encourage any visitors I can to come over for a visit, I'm glad to hear that the tourist areas are just about normal, that would encourage any tourist to know they won't be just gawping at the devastation.

 

[Planogirl]

I wondered about Commander's Palace.

I think that as an outsider but one who visited New Orleans frequently over the years that I would personally prefer to stay in the regular tourist areas and not tour the really badly hit parts of the city. I would be there if I could partially to help New Orleans get back on its feet and also to enjoy those places that I'm familiar with. I wouldn't see any sense in sightseeing in areas that I wouldn't normally visit. (Even though I get chills when I think about lakefront where I have been.)

I would think though that any visitor would be helpful at this point even the rubberneckers.

 

[ChuckB]

The BBC has a holiday programme which of course shows ideas for holidays, just recently they did a 'back to New Orleans' trip and the guest presenter (very distinguished newsreader to try and add sincerity I guess) did the usual waffle on how the place was devastated etc then proceeded to take part in a tour of the worst hit places. The tour guide was a NO local and had obviously lost friends and family as well as material possessions during those terrible days, and she naturally got quite upset whilst showing the tourists parts of her city and explaining how they used to be before Katrina.
My question is, How do the locals feel about these tours? is it seen as 'car crash' observations? Do people object against these or are they happy to get tourists back no matter what the reason?

I'm also asking as I'm a travel agent and would like to advise clients accordingly when they ask if they can go view these devastated areas.

Hello, just in case you want to know, YES!!!!, send all the tourist to the gulf coast region you can, from Pensecola,FL to the Big Easy.... I live in south Mississippi, I am a volunteer firefighter and I stayed during Katrina, the first 12 days after, well, not much sleep, saw the best and worst come out, but all the tourist we can get in the area, the better!!!!!! It will give a boost to the economy that is greatly needed. I personally spent a couple days in Mobile,AL with the family for Marti Gra, and of course, the Big Easy with the wife and friends....personal opinion, Mobile is more for family, New Orleans for the more adult fun of Marti Gras....... If your clients want to have an experience of a lifetime.... then it is the Big Easy hands down!!!!!!!

 

[MrsKreamer]

Hello, just in case you want to know, YES!!!!, send all the tourist to the gulf coast region you can, from Pensecola,FL to the Big Easy.... I live in south Mississippi, I am a volunteer firefighter and I stayed during Katrina, the first 12 days after, well, not much sleep, saw the best and worst come out, but all the tourist we can get in the area, the better!!!!!! It will give a boost to the economy that is greatly needed. I personally spent a couple days in Mobile,AL with the family for Marti Gra, and of course, the Big Easy with the wife and friends....personal opinion, Mobile is more for family, New Orleans for the more adult fun of Marti Gras....... If your clients want to have an experience of a lifetime.... then it is the Big Easy hands down!!!!!!!

You can find plenty of family fun in Mardi Gras in the New Orleans area aswell. Please don't perpetuate a myth. It's MARDI GRAS not MARTI

 

[arminnie]

You can find plenty of family fun in Mardi Gras in the New Orleans area aswell. Please don't perpetuate a myth.

I want to second that. I had not been to Mardi Gras in DECADES because I bought into the myth. I really had no desire to be in a huge crowd of drunk, rowdy low-lifes.

Mardi Gras on St. Charles Avenue and Napoleon is NOT what you see on TV. Think of maybe a giant tailgate party - lots of families and children.

People were SO nice, polite, and friendly. I loved the way that the float riders would go out of their way to give children extra special throws like stuffed animals.

It was just so much FUN - I didn't see any nudity nor did I come across a single drunk. Plenty of people drinking, but I saw no bad behavior at all.

I think I was most impressed though by how everyone cleaned up afterwards. The streets were almost spotless the morning after the parades.

I cannot speak first hand for the Mardi Gras activities in the suburbs, but I have heard that if anything they are even more family friendly (if possible).

 

[ChuckB]

You can find plenty of family fun in Mardi Gras in the New Orleans area aswell. Please don't perpetuate a myth. It's MARDI GRAS not MARTI

sorry I had to go...fire alarm, 3 back to back, if you would please overlook the spelling error ..... I was not referring to the parade route, sorry to offend, but I was just putting in my opinion, I like the music and night life you find in the french quarter, jazz, zydeco, etc.. My children, 15, 13, 11, & 7, over the last 5 yrs, have said they liked Mobile better at night, there was more for them to do, but, as at the end of my post, I do say the Big Easy is the place to be......

 

[Daisy57b]

The city of New Orleans needs tourism to come back to rebuild. No doubt about that...but I do feel strongly against people going to gawk and take pictures of a disaster. My husband's parents lost everything literally. We evacuated and came back to living in a national disaster with no power, gas, or anything for weeks. It really was a disaster and I think it's disturbing that people would want to gawk and take pictures of that. If your house was completely destroyed and you lost every single one of your possesions (which are now all out on the front lawn baked in mold),and your pets, and you're living in a fema trailor outside of it all...how would you feel if a tour bus showed up with 75 people pressing their faces up against the window and taking pictures? If people want to come to New Orleans, please come help our economy and be a tourist here, but respect our privacy when it comes with the disaster that we still live in.