It basically states that the city's efforts to market to an older, more mature tourist have failed over the past decade. The goal now is to market towards a younger, drunker crowd.There's more there so go read it. But the key point is that the purpose of the Ho-Zone was always about turning neighborhoods into Adult Disneylands operated by "stakeholder" hoteliers and such.
Update: It's important not to report Mitch's phony justifications in this form.
Landrieu, who as Louisiana's lieutenant governor served as the state's top tourism official, has led the charge to create a hospitality zone in part to create a funding stream to maintain $30 million in infrastructure improvements that the convention center's board has promised to make in and around the Quarter in preparation for next year's Super Bowl. Another $10 million in FEMA money is slated to be spent on the neighborhood's crumbling streets and sidewalks.
But wait. According to this same article, two thirds of the estimated $16 million in revenue generated from the HoZone taxes will go directly to NOTMC and NOCVB for marketing purposes. Furthermore, HoZone proponents have already claimed that the entire HoZone scheme is based on the recommendations of a consultant's report which we've now seen is basically a strategy for selling the Quarter as a puke pad for frat boys.
This isn't about "maintaining infrastructure improvements" that are already scheduled and funded regardless of whether the HoZone happens. It's about funding the hoteliers' marketing campaign and also granting them an inappropriate quasi-governmental role over the New Orleans neighborhoods their businesses already exploit.
No comments:
Post a Comment