Lafourche pitches tourism to Kiwanis convention

Lafourche Parish is showing off its goods to more than 6,000 people from 70 foreign countries and 50 states during the International Kiwanis Convention in New Orleans, which runs today through Saturday.

“This is a rare opportunity for Lafourche to connect with community leaders from around our country and around the world,” said Julie Barrilleaux, special projects coordinator for Lafourche Parish Government. “We’ll be at the event to greet the conventioneers and welcome them and share information about all that Lafourche has to offer.”

The convention stop is part of Lafourche Parish’s “Dig In” tourism recovery campaign, which is being funded by a $2.1 million tourism recovery grant in BP, in response to the 2010 oil spill. The money is being used to fund Lafourche Tourism’s sojourns at conventions through 2013.

According to Lafourche Parish Tourism executive director Carolyn Cheramie, at least 1,200 international and domestic tourists visit Lafourche Parish each year.

“It’s mostly domestic tourists, but last year, we had more than 732 international visitors sign guest books with Lafourche Tourism,” Cheramie said. “The top 10 countries that visitors traveled from were Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, the Philippines, Switzerland and the Netherlands.”

By attending the event, Lafourche Tourism hopes to gain the attention of even more international visitors.

“This will be our first time at the Kiwanis Convention,” Barrilleaux said. “We are trying to attend some of the larger conventions that come to the area. The Kiwanis Convention is an international event, and it will be a great place to spread the word about traveling to Lafourche Parish for a day trip or longer.”

The Lafourche Parish booth at the convention features a narrated video shot at different locations throughout the parish, letting viewers know what there is to see and do in the area. The video is currently available on YouTube. The booth also touts the parish’s cuisine, wildlife, historical sites and fishing. 

Highlighted attractions include the E.D. White House, Laurel Valley Plantation, the Folk Life and Heritage Museum, fairs and festivals, local restaurants and swamp tours. The bureau is also working to promote charter fishing services, an industry that was particularly devastated by the oil spill, by creating separate web site for these business.

“The site is theirs and will remain theirs,” Barrilleaux. “Each guide service also has a blog that they can post to.”

Westley Annis, president of the Kiwanis Club of Thibodaux, sees the convention as a great chance for the parish to promote itself.

“This will be a great opportunity to promote Lafourche tourism,” Annis said. “There are already at least five hotels completely booked with Kiwanis members, and there will be tens of thousands of people there.

The convention is hosted in a different international location every year. In addition to this year, New Orleans hosted the convention a decade ago.