WHERE were they thinking?

When Governor Blanco appointed Mike Olivier to Secretary of Economic Development, my confidence in Louisiana’s future was raised tremendously. He had previously served the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast (MS Beach) with absolute distinction. As a frequent visitor to the institutions that make New Orleans famous (The French Quarter, Tipatina’s, Mandina’s, WWOZ, etc), I hope the voters make the right decision for mayor to confidently guide the city’s future. I look forward to helping any way I can.

Last year, The Times Picayune published U.N.O.’s research about New Orleans tourism activity. It may have seemed far fetched to show an increase by 226% in family tourism, but let me assure you the numbers are probably accurate. One story that I witnessed helps explain your pre-Katrina tourism boom. While your convention hoteliers protected your interests, Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau (MGCCVB) tax and spin programs launched a self destruction marketing strategy.

In Spring of 1999, Stephen Richer Ex. Dir. of MGCCVB (a Princeton graduate) was busy convincing national chains and casino hoteliers in Mississippi to work with his “brilliant scheme” to tap into the stronger New Orleans market (35,000+ rooms) to support his smaller dysfunctional market (15,000+ rooms) through WHERE magazine in MS Beach hotel rooms. WHERE promised to mix their potentially new Mississippi advertisers with their long existing New Orleans customer base. Cross-marketing these two competing destinations (only one hour apart and completely different) was his foolish approach to economic development.

Long before this fiasco was implemented, a Times Picayune Money section warned readers of Mr. Richer’s intention and published a leading N.O. convention hotelier response, “We don’t want any part of this, you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” The next morning, WWL 870 AM’s Andre show suddenly removed the “WHERE controversy” from the main topic of discussion as previously advertised. The magazine went on to run three long years in MS Beach with over 90% of the paid advertisements about the New Orleans area in every monthly issue.

WHERE magazines were helping tourists change their vacation plans to book hundreds of rooms to New Orleans from MS Beach hotel rooms and Beach Boulevard every day. The average length of stay on MS Beach was shortened and room rates fell dramatically. The productivity of every advertising dollar also fell. The cost of doing business in MS Beach went up dramatically. The primary MS Beach benefactors from this campaign were selling gasoline, advertising, car rentals or bus tours to New Orleans, while major New Orleans hoteliers had blacklisted the distribution of such nonsense about MS Beaches, but kept their advertising contracts with WHERE.

So many bureaucrats and politicians blamed the stagnant economy in MS Beach on the economic absorption caused by the introduction of the $750 million Beau Rivage investment in April 1999 (sending a message to future investors). They may have been half-right, since Beau’s daytime concierge went along with the program and complained to me about running out her limit of 3000 WHERE magazines before the second weekend of the month.

This economic curse plagued MS Beach casino profits and small business growth as we lost new and repeat visitors year round for many more years to come. By no means is this the first time I’ve seen this socialistic intervention program (MGCCVB) mislead their constituents into economic misfortune. I only wish my governor would seize and better distribute that tourism tax for more important things like infrastructure, sewage and water recovery, as locals should turn to their Chamber of Commerce and entrepreneurs in the marketplace for leadership. Restoration of the basic fundamentals of capitalism is necessary for MS Beach economic recovery.

The strong progressive track which my business had helped to create for the merchants of Bay St. Louis and Ocean Springs since October of 1996, and of Pass Christian since 1994, was desperately compromised beginning with the first issue of Where in April 1999. If only more people, investors, voters and politicians in Mississippi had subscribed to this informative newspaper, this kind of economic tragedy might have easily have been avoided altogether.

My advice to every voter in New Orleans is to find the candidates that can best work with Mike Olivier and the city’s convention hoteliers, so your recovery will be destined for sound and progressive leadership.

Henry D. Ward
Tourism Consultant
Tourismguru.blogspot.com
Tourismguru777@yahoo.com
Bay St. Louis, MS