Baton Rouge hospitality and tourism questions remain, but development still happening downtown

Whether hospitality and tourism in the downtown area will increase remains a question, with events scheduled to return but COVID-19 cases rising.

Downtown hotel occupancy in June slightly outpaced June 2019 numbers, Karron Alford, director of marketing and technology at Visit Baton Rouge, said at Tuesday morning’s Downtown Development District meeting. However, the average daily rate of visitors at Baton Rouge hotels fell below both 2019 and 2020 numbers.

This is because there has been more leisure travel than for events and conventions, she says, the latter of which tends to drive up hotel stays.

Nationwide trends show trips getting postponed and canceled due to the fourth wave, Alford says, but metropolitan cities seem to be making a comeback, a good sign for Baton Rouge.

Visit Baton Rouge also recently introduced its Friends Trip Pass, a program that capitalizes on local and statewide tourism and allows users to sign up and receive discounts and deals on restaurants and other city attractions. A Family Trip Pass will be introduced in the next few weeks, Alford says.

Also discussed at the meeting:

• “Things are moving very slowly,” board chair Melanie Montanaro said in regard to the DDD’s executive director search. She made a motion for the DDD’s search committee to meet for the first time in the next couple of weeks.

• The Hollywood Casino held its groundbreaking Tuesday to begin its move onto land. Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Chicken Restaurant will be located in the casino.

• The DDD’s Outdoor Dining Grant Program is live, and downtown restaurants can get help with applying for outdoor dining permits and funds for outdoor furniture. There is no deadline to apply, and the program will be first come, first served.

• Mercer Annex, a new salon owned by Mercer Supply Co.’s Dewayne Mercer, will be moving into an office in 1010 Nic.

This story originally appeared in an Aug. 10 edition of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.