Louisiana sees an increase in visitors, hospitality jobs in 2023

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) -- The Louisiana Office of Tourism says more people are visiting Louisiana.

Research from MMGY Global shows that Louisiana had 43 million visitors, domestic and international, in 2023. This was 420,000 more than in 2022. These visitors spent a total of $18.1 billion in 2023, an increase of 5.4% from 2022.

International visitation increased by 16.9% in 2023. Spending reached $1.7 billion, LOT said.

“It’s exciting to see the increases to visitation and spending in Louisiana as we work to get back to record-breaking numbers prior to the pandemic,” said Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser. “I’m especially pleased to see the increase in numbers from international visitors. We know international visitors stay longer, visit more places and spend more money, making them extremely important to the economic impact of travel to the state. These increases are despite the challenges of increasing travel costs.”

Louisiana's hospitality industry also saw a boost. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 220,500 people held jobs at the end of 2023. The industry saw 3,100 more jobs in 2022.

LOT said hospitality is the fourth largest industry in the state.

“Through our proactive marketing and promotion of the state, not only domestically, but internationally, we expect to continue to see a steady return of visitors,” said Nungesser. “People are excited to return to travel and experience all the ways to Feed Your Soul in Louisiana, and we’re just getting started.”

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