Louisiana Sets New Tourism Record

Louisiana drew a record breaking 27.3 million tourists in 2013. This includes visitors to cities, outdoor festivals and other events such as the Super Bowl last year. 

Tourists accounted for $10.8 billion in spending last year. According to Louisiana Lt Gov. Jay Dardenne, the numbers are sourced from an annual state-wide tourism study.

"More than 210,000 Louisianians are employed thanks to the travel and tourism industry, making it the fifth largest employment sector in the state," said Dardenne. "And I'm especially proud of the geographical diversity of our visitation. We welcomed one million more tourists in 2013 than the previous year and 700,000 of them visited markets outside New Orleans."