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This article is brought to you by Visit Baton Rouge.
Thanks to ongoing partnerships with organizations across the region, Visit Baton Rouge welcomes thousands of people to Baton Rouge each year, with more people than ever visiting the capital for sporting events, conventions, and leisure travel. It helps attract people.
“There’s a very supportive atmosphere about what’s going on on the tourism side,” said Laura Cating, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Visit Baton Rouge. “We have the opportunity to work in partnership every day with organizations that play a role in the tourism sector in different parts of our community. That cohesiveness is of great benefit to our city and the tourists who visit here. ”
Last year, 8.8 million people visited Baton Rouge and spent $1.7 billion. The city has hosted more than 240 meetings, conventions and sporting events, including Gulf Coast Food & Fuel, the Louisiana Travel Summit, the Marucci World Series, and the Military Order of the Purple Heart 90th Anniversary. These events are a huge benefit to Baton Rouge businesses. Because the travel and tourism industry, including hotels, restaurants, retail stores and attractions, supports more than 40,000 local jobs.
Sports tourism, in particular, has emerged as the primary reason many people visit Baton Rouge. The U.S. Youth Soccer Southern Regional Championship, co-sponsored by the Baton Rouge Tourism Authority, BREC and the Baton Rouge Soccer Club, featured 236 teams from 11 states and generated $24 million in economic impact. In March, the Savannah Bananas baseball team played three sold-out games at Alex Box Stadium, drawing thousands of spectators. Last month saw the Masters of Strength Fest, which attracted participants in everything from arm wrestling to powerlifting. Next year, the United States Bowling Federation will hold a tournament in Baton Rouge that is expected to draw about 50,000 visitors over three months.
“For a year or two before and after COVID-19, when competitions and indoor events were canceled, outdoor sports flourished. People were still traveling for both youth and adult sports. They were having a lot of cultural experiences in the cities they visited. We see these numbers continue to rise,” Keating said. “Youth sports in particular have a real economic impact because it’s not just the athletes who come. It’s their parents, grandparents, and other family members. They often require multiple hotel rooms per participant. They’re looking for things to do in town to get gas, eat at restaurants, and do things with the family. We partner with many of these tournaments on experiences and attractions to enjoy while in town. We were able to disseminate information.”
In addition to working with sports organizations, Visit Baton Rouge has built strong relationships with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce (BRAC) and the city/parish on the “Better in BTR” campaign, a campaign to attract and retain talent by highlighting the city’s unique community assets and encouraging business professionals ages 25-45 to consider moving to Baton Rouge.
“Our belief is that it all starts with a visit,” Keating said. “When people visit Baton Rouge, we want them to leave with the impression that they can see themselves living here. We want Baton Rouge to be known as a city with great people to spend time in. Our mission to attract visitors is to make Baton Rouge a place where businesses want to stay and people want to work. This aligns well with BRAC’s mission to position
While partnerships with large organizations provide great benefits to the city and its visitors, Visit Baton Rouge also supports smaller local festivals and cultural events such as farmers markets, food showcases, and live music. Support is also being provided to the organization hosting the event, Koetting said. Last year, Visit Baton Rouge awarded $250,000 in financial support for such events in every zip code in the parish.
“These are really important to us because we can work closely with people who are firmly rooted in certain aspects of our culture,” she said. “They take pride in presenting their work for visitors to experience in an authentic and welcoming way, and we are proud to support them.”
As tourism continues to gain momentum, the Baton Rouge Tourism Authority is already planning a new holiday lights event in partnership with the Louisiana State University Ag Center Botanical Garden, Keating said. The plan is for an immersive, family-friendly event to be held multiple nights a week from Thanksgiving through after Christmas.
“We hope to see an increase in visitors during the holiday season,” she said. “Baton Rouge always hosts some great holiday events, many of which are one-night-only. Events held over several weeks bring together all the holiday activities, bring excitement to the community, and keep visitors entertained throughout their stay. We hope this will encourage people to check out other attractions as well.”
To learn more about Baton Rouge events and attractions or to plan your trip today, visit www.visitbatonrouge.com
